LIE^E 


OF 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER    I. 


£AKLY   USE. 


Uh  Ancestors— nu  Grandfather  Murdered  by  Indiiins — His  Parent* — Aa  Only  Child— Advene  Circumjtanoefr— 
Western  Schools  Fifty  Years  Ago — Kemoval  to  Indiana — Work  In  the  Forest — Letter-Writer  (or  the  Neighborhood 
—The  First  Great  Sorrow— Character  of  his  Mother- Heading  the  Scriptures — Self-Educated— first  Boolt*— Inter- 
kstiu^- Xaoldeut  of  Boyhood — Early  Western  Preachers. 


IT  is  not  known  at  what  period  the  anccs- 
tor.s  of  Abrahnm  Lincoln  ciuno  to  America. 
The  tJrst  account  that  has  been  obtained  of 
them  dales  back  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
vtars,  at  which  time  they  wore  Uving  in 
Berks  Coui)t3',  Pennsylyania,  and  were  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends.  AVhcnce  or 
when  they  came  to  that  region  is  not  known. 

About  the  middle  of  the  hist  century,  the 
greitt-grandfather  of  Abraham  Lincohi  re- 
moved from  Berks  County,  Pennsylvania,  to 
Kockinghara  County,  Virginia.  There  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  the  grandfather,  and  Thomas 
Lincoln,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  were  born.  Abraham,  the  grand- 
father, had  four  brothers — Isaac,  Jacob,  John, 
and  Thomj^ — descendants  of  whom  are  now 
living  in  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  and  Missouri.  Abraham  removed 
to  Kentucky  about  the  yeitr  1780,  and  four 
years  thereafter,  >vhile  engaged  in  opening  a 
farm,  he  was  surpriged  and  killed  by  Indians  ; 
leaving  a  widow,  three  sons,  and  two  daugh- 
ters. Tlie  eldest  son,  Mordecai,  remained  in 
ICentucky  until  late  in  life,  when  he  removed 
to  Hancock  County,  Illinois,  where  he  shortly 
afterward  died,  and  where  his  descendants 
htill  live.  The  second  son,  Josiah,  settled 
many  years  ago  on  Blue  River,  in  Harrison 
County,  Indiana.  The  eldest  daughter,  Mary, 
was  married  to  Ralph  Crume,  and  some  of  her 
descendants  are  now  living  in  Breckenridge 
County,  Kentucky,  The  second  daughter, 
Nancy,  was  married  to  William  B;-umtield, 
and^her  descendants  are  supposed  to  be  living 
in  Kentucky. 

Thomas,  the  youngest  son,  and  father  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  by  the  death  of  his 
father  and  the  very  uarrovy  circumstances  of 
his  mother,  waa  thrown  upon  his  own  re- 
sources while  yet  a  child.  Traveling  from 
neighborhood  to  neighborhood,  working 
wherever  ho  could  find  employment,  ho  grow 


up  literally  without  education.  He  finally 
settled  in  liardin  County,  where,  in  ISOti,  he 
was  married  to  Nancy  Hanks,  whose  family 
had  also  come  from  Vu-ginia,  The  fruits  of 
this  union  were  a  daughter  and  two  sons. 
One  of  the  latter  died  in  infancy ;  the  daugh- 
ter died  later  in  life,  having  been  married,  but 
leaving  no  issue.  The  sole  survivor  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch. 

Abraliam  Lincoln  was  born  in  Hardin 
County,  Kentucky,  February  12th,  1809.  It 
would  bo  difhcult  to  conceive  of  more  un- 
promising circumstances  than  those  under 
which  be  was  ushered  into  life.  His  parents 
were  poor  and  uneducated.  They  were  un- 
der the  social  ban  which  the  presence  of 
slavery  alv.  ::ys  entail^  upon  poverty.  Their 
very  limited  means  and  the  low  grade  of  the 
neighbor! rp  schools,  precluded  the  expecta- 
tion of  conKrring  upon  their  children  the  ad- 
vantages of  eve:i  a  common  English  education. 
The  present  inhabitants  of  the  Western  States 
can  have  but  t;  faint  idea  of  the  schools  which 
fifty  years  ag<.  constituted  the  only  means  of 
education  accessible  to  the  poorer  classes. 
The  teachers  were,  for  the  must  part,  ignor- 
ant, uncultivated  men,  rough  of  speech,  un- 
couth in  manners,  and  rarely  competent  to 
teach  beyond  the  simplest  rudiments  of  learn- 
ing— "spelling,  reading,  -wTiting,"  and  some- 
times a  very  little  arithmetic.  The  books -of 
study  then  in  vogue,  would  not  now  be  toler- 
ated in  sghools  of  the  lowest  grade.  The 
school-house,  constructed  of  logji,  floorless, 
windowless,  and  without  inclosure,  was  in  ad- 
mirable harmony  with  teacher,  textbooks, 
and  the  mode  of  imparting  instruction. 

In  his  sovcntli  year,  Abraham  was  sent  for 
short  periods  to  two  of  these  schools,  and 
while  attending  them  progressed  so  far  as  to 
learn  to  write.  For  this  acquirement  he 
nianifested  a  great  fondness.  It  was  his  cus- 
tom to  form  letters,  to  write  words  and  sen' 


EaTkJUU)  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  In  the  year  ISOO,  by  Uie  CHIOAQO  PllESS  AND  TIOBUNK  CO.,  In  Uie  Clerk'* 
Office  of  the  Dlairlct  Court  for  the  HorUiera  Dl»trlct  of  llUaok. 


tences  wherever  he  found  suitable   material. 
He  scrawled  them  with  charcoal,  he  scored 
them  ia  the  dust,  in  the  sand,  in  the  snow — 
anywhere  and  everywhere  that  lines  could  be  ! 
drawn,   there  he   improved  his    capacity   for ' 


writmg. 

Jtfeanwhile, 
elder  Lincoln 


the  worldly  condition  of  the 
did  not  improve.  He  realized 
in  his  daily  experience  and  observation  how 
slavery  oppresses  the  poorer  classes,  making 
their  poverty  and  social  disrepute  a  permanent 
condition  through  the  degradation  which  it 
atSxes  to  labor.  Revolving  this  matter  in  his 
mind,  he  wisely  resolved  to  remove  his  young 
family  from  its  presence.  Accordingly,  in  the 
autumn  of  1816,  he  emigrated  to  Spencer 
County,  Indiana — one  of  the  States  conse- 
crated forever  to  freedom  and  free  labor  by 
the  Jeffersonian  Ordinance  of  1TS7,  and  which, 
with  the  States  now  comprising  the  territory 
included  in  that  memorable  instrument,  has 
afforded  asylum — an  open  field  and  fair  play 
— to  thousands  upon  thousands  who  have,  in 
like  manner,  been  driven  from  their  homes  by 
that  great  social  scourge  of  the  "  poor  whites  " 
of  the  South. 

Young  Lincoln  was  in  his  eighth  year  when 
■::iily  removed  to  Indiana.     They  settled 
unbroken   forest,  gladly  takins:  np'^- 
.-  ;'res  all  the  privations  and  '^ 
■'.■^r  life,  in  view  of  what 
*  ^.mad  them.     The  erection  of  a,  nouse  and 
)f  the  forest  was  the  first  wrk  to 
J     Abraham  was  young  to  e  ._    j-e  ' 
a  labor,  but  be  was  large  of  hh  agp    ^-^i. 
v,3.Tt,   and  willing  to  work.      An  p-     ^^3,3  at 
once  placed  in  bis  hands,  and  fr-"  ^^  ^j-^g^j;  time 
until  lie  attained  bis  twenty-*-'   .j.^  year,  when 
not  employed  jn  .'dbor  or  '\^  r^j.„   j^g  '^^^  al- 


most cons 
plem'juL 


jn  to. 
more  in 


tantV- 


TVIP' 


that  most  useful  im- 


.   the  family  in  Indiana, 
..  fVere  left  behmd  were    " :  be 
The  elder  Lincoln  could  '^     ■  "th- 
the  way  of  writing  thi.i  -i- 

_,imgly  sign  his  name.  The  tnocner,  though  a 
ready  reader,  h.Ld  n.jC  been  taught  the  accom- 
plishment of  writing.  In  this  emergency 
Abraham's  skill  as  a  penman  was  out  into 
requisition,  a- 1  with  hisrhly  satis:a.j;ory  re- 
sults. Fr  -..crime  ouwardhe  conducted 
the  fam"  correspondence.  This  fact  soon 
becor-  ■  ^  public,  little  Abraham  was  consid- 
er'- .  marvel  of  learning  and  wisdom  by  the 
simple-minded  settlers;  and  ever  afterward, 
as  long  as  he  remained  in  Indiana,  he  was  the 
letter-writer  for  the  neighbors  generally,  as 
well  as  for  his  father's  family.  That  he  was 
selected  for  this  purpose  was  doubtless  owing 
not  more  to  his  proficiency  in  writing  than  to 
his  ability  to  e.'cpress  the  wishes  and  feelings 
of  those  for  whom  he  wrote  in  clear  and  forci- 
ble language,  and  to  that  obliging  disposition 


that  has  always  distinguished  him  in  subse- 
*quent  life.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  some- 
thing of  Mr.  Lincoln's  style  and  laoiliiy  of 
composition  in  later  years,  both  as  a  writer 
and  speaker,  is  to  be  traced  back  to  'rh  ■  ^  ear- 
lier efforts  as  an  amanuensis  for  tb  >  ibor- 
hood. 

In  the  autumn  of  181S,  Abraham,  ir  the 
loss  of  his  mother,  experienced  the  fir  eat 
sorrow  of  his  life.     Facts  in  the  pos  of 

the  writer  have  impressed  him  with  t;.  ef 

that,  although  of  but  limited  educati    .    sae 
was  a  woman  of  great  native  strength  0;  iitA- 
lect  and  force  of  character;  and  he  suspects 
that   those  admirable  qualities  of  head  an  • 
heart  which   characterize  her   distin  - 
son   are  inherited  mostly  from  V.  ■ ' 
well  as  her  husband,  was  a  devou 
the  Baptist  Church.     It  was  her'         .on  the 
Sabbath,  when  there  was  no  re'..^  .as  rrors^  ■ 
in  the   neighborhood  —  a   thing   of  fre    .  .  ■ 
occurrence — to  employ  a  portion  of  the  day 
in  reading  the  Scriptures  aloud  to  her  famUv 
After  Abraham  and  h'-   sister  'r,    '  ' 
read,  they  shared  b' 

Sunday  reading.  xnis  .-act;.  .^lUinueU 
faithfully  through  a  seri^  ,  of  years,  could  not 
fail  to  produce  f^ert.i'  iects.  Among  other 
thi^-  as  to  impart  an  ac:u- 

.„a  Bible  history  and  Bible 
-.a?"  •    —  i  it  must  also  hav-.  '■  r-T.  larg-e'y 
inst-^    cental  in  "  -elcping  th 
^      .  in  the  c'.-        .-i'  f^*" 
yi  the  family.     The  fa  ud  with  this 

hypothesis.     There  ar  public  life 

so  familiar  with  the  Scr  :.  Lincoln, 

while  to  those  pious  '■  nother  in 

his  early  childhood  -.css  to  be  attrib- 

uted much  . .  >;y  of  life,  that  elevation 

of  moral  ci  _.  . ,  .c;r,  that  exquisite  sense  of 
justice,  and  that  sentiment  of  humanity  which 
now  form  distinguishing  traits  of  his  charac- 
ter. A  year  after  the  death  of  his  mother,  his 
father  married  Mrs.  Sally  Johnston,  at  Eliza- 
bethtown,  Kentucky,  a  widow  with  three  chil- 
dren. She  proved  a  good  and  kind  mother  to 
to  Abraham.  She  survives  her  husband,  and 
is  now  living  in  Coles  County,  Illinois. 

Afte'-  tb.p  removal  of  the  family  to  Indiana, 
Abraham  attended  school  a  little,  chiefly  in 
the  winter,  when  work  was  less  pressing; 
but  the  aggregate  of  all  the  time  thus  spent, 
both  in  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  did  not  amount 
to  one  year.  He  is  therefore  indebted  to 
schools  for  but  a  very  small  part  of  his  educa- 
tion. All  men  who  become  in  any  respect 
distinguished,  are,  in  one  sense  at  least,  self- 
made  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  development  and  the 
discipline  of  the  intellect  can  only  be  secured 
by  self-effort.  Without  this,  assistance  on 
the  part  of  teachers,  however  long  and  contin- 
uously offered,  will  yield  no  fruit  With  it, 
assistance  is  valuable  maialv  in  that  it  directs 


mger  members 


and  encourages  effort  He  is  said  to  be  a  self- 
made  man  who  attains  to  distinction  without 
having  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  teachers  and 
of  institutions  of  learning;  and  in  this  sense 
Abraham  Lincoln  is  peculiarly  entitled  to  the 
appellation.  His  early  teachers  were  men  of 
scarcely  any  learning,  and  what  he  mastered 
through  their  assistance  consisted  only  of  the 
simplest  rudiments  of  education.  That  sub- 
sequent training  and  disciplining  of  the  intel- 
lect, that  habit  of  close  investigation,  that 
power  of  intense  thought,  which  enable  him  to 
master  every  subject  he  investigates,  and  that 
faculty  of  clear  and  forcible  expression,  of  log- 
ical arrangement,  and  of  overwhelming  argu- 
ment, by  which  he  enforces  his  own  well- 
grounded  convictions — all  this  is  the  result 
of  his  own  unaided  exertions,  and  of  a  natu- 
rally sound  and  vigorous  understanding.  So 
far  from  being  indebted  to  institutions  of 
learning  for  any  of  the  qualities  which  char- 
acterize him,  he  was  never  in  a  college  or  an 
academy  as  a  student,  and  was  never,  in  fact, 
inside  of  a  college  or  academy  building  until 
after  he  had  commenced  the  practice  of  the 
law.  He  studied  English  grammar  after  he 
was  twenty-three  years  of  age ;  at  twenty-five 
he  mastered  enough  of  geometry,  trigonom- 
etry, and  mensuration  to  enable  him  to  take 
the  field  as  a  surveyor ;  and  he  studied  the 
six  books  of  Euclid  after  he  had  served  a  term 
in  Congress,  and  when  he  was  forty  years  of 
age,  amid  the  pressure  of  an  extensive  legal 
practice,  and  of  frequent  demands  upon  his 
time  by  the  public. 

Books  were  another  means  of  education 
which  young  Lincoln  did  not  neglect;  but  in 
a  backwoods  settlement  of  Indiana,  forty  years 
ago,  books  were  somewhat  rarer  than  now. 
They  had  this  advantage,  however,  over  a  ma- 
jority of  the  books  of  the  present  time :  the 
few  that  were  to  be  had  possessed  solid  merit, 
and  well  repaid  the  time  and  labor  given  to 
their  study.  Abraham's  first  book,  after 
Dilworth's  Spelling-Book,  was,  as  has  been 
stated,  the  Bible.  Next  to  that  came  ^sop's 
Fables,  which  he  read  with  great  zest, 
and  so  often  as  to  commit  the  whole  to  memo- 
ry. After  that  he  obtained  a  copy  of  Pilgrim's 
Progress — a  book  which,  perhaps,  has  quick- 
ened as  many  dormant  intellects  and  started 
into  vigorous  growth  the  religious  element  of 
as  many  natures,  as  any  other  in  the  English 
language.  Then  came  the  Life  of  Franklin, 
Weems'  Washington,  and  Rill's  Narrative. 
Over  the  two  former  the  boy  lingered  with 
rapt  delight.  He  followed  Washington  and 
brave  Ben.  Franklin  through  their  early  trials 
and  .struggles  as  well  as  through  their  later  tri- 
umphs; and  even  then,  in  the  midst  of  his 
cramped  surroundings,  and  in  the  f;ice  of  the 
discouragements  which  beset  him  on  every 
hand,  his  soul  was  lifted  upwards,  and  noble 


aspirations  which  never  afterwards  forsook 
him,  grew  up  within  him,  and  great  thoughts 
stirred  his  bosom — thoughts  of  emancipated 
nations,  of  the  glorious  principles  which  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  human  freedom,  and  of  hon- 
orable fame  acquired  by  heroic  endeavors  to 
enforce  and  maintain  them.  These  books  con- 
stituted the  boy's  library.  When  he  was  four- 
teen or  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  learned  that 
one  Mr.  Crawford,  a  distant  neighbor,  had  in 
his  house  Ramsey's  Life  of  Washington — a 
book  which  he  was  told  gave  a  fuller  and  bet- 
ter account  of  Washington  and  the  Revolution 
than  the  volume  he  had  read  with  so  much 
pleasure.  He  at  once  borrowed  the  book,  and 
devoured  its  contents.  By  some  accident  the 
volume  was  exposed  to  a  shower  and  badly 
damaged.  Young  Lincoln  had  no  money,  but 
he  knew  how  to  work.  He  went  to  Crawford, 
told  him  what  had  happened,  and  expressed 
his  readiness  to  work  out  the  full  value  of  the 
book.  Crawford  had  a  field  of  corn,  which 
had  been  stripped  of  the  blades  as  high  as  the 
ear,  preparatory  to  cutting  off  the  tops  for 
winter  fodder  for  his  cattle.  He  expressed  his 
willingness  to  square  accounts  if  Lincoln 
would  cut  the  tops  from  that  field  of  corn. 
The  offer  was  promptly  accepted,  and  with 
three  days  of  hard  labor  the  book  was  paid 
for,  and  Young  Lincoln  returned  home  the 
proud  possessor  of  another  volume.  Not  long 
after  this  incident,  he  was  fortunate  enough  to 
get  possession  of  a  copy  of  Plutarch's  Lives. 
What  fields  of  thought  its  perusal  opened  up 
to  the  stripling,  what  hopes  were  excited  in 
his  youthful  breast,  what  worthy  models  of 
probity,  of  justice,  of  honor,  and  of  devotion 
to  great  principles  he  resolved  to  pattern  after, 
can  be  readily  imagined  by  those  who  are  fami- 
liar with  his  subsequent  career,  and  who  hare 
themselves  lingered  over  the  same  charmed 
page. 

Listening  occasionally  to  the' early  back- 
woods preachers,  was  another  means  which, 
more  than  schools,  and,  perhaps,  quite  as  much 
as  books,  aided  in  developing  and  forming  the 
character  of  young  Lincoln.  It  has  already 
been  stated  that  his  parents  were  pious  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  Church.  Among  the  back- 
woodsmen of  Indiana,  at  that  period,  sectarian- 
ism did  not  run  as  high  as  it  probably  does  in 
the  same  section  now.  The  people  were  glad 
of  an  opportunity  to  hear  a  sermon,  whether 
delivered  by  one  of  their  own  religious  faith 
or  not.  Thus  it  was  at  least  with  the  father 
and  mother  of  young  Lincoln,  who  never 
failed  to  attend,  with  their  family,  upon  reli- 
gious worship,  whenever  held  within  reasona- 
ble distance.  They  gladly  received  the  word, 
caring  less  for  the  doctrinal  tenets  of  the 
preacher  than  for  the  earnestness  and  zeal 
with  which  he  enforced  practical  godliness. 
No  class  of  men  are  more  deserving  of  admi- 


ration  than  those  who  have  been  the  first  to 
carry  the  gospel  to  our  frontier  settlements. 
If  ever  men  have  labored  in  the  cause  of  their 
Divine  Master  and  for  the  salvation  of  their 
fellow-mortals,  impelled  by  motives  entirely 
free  from  any  dross  of  selfishness,  surely  that 
honor  should  be  awarded  to  them.  Many  of 
these  early  pioneer  preachers  were  gifted  with 
a  rare  eloquence.  Inspired  always  with  the 
grandeur  of  their  theme,  communing  daily 
with  nature  while  on  their  long  and  solitary 
journeyings  from  settlement  to  settlement, 
they  seemed  to  be  favored,  beyond  human 
wont,  with  a  very  near  approach  to  the  source 
of  all  inspiration  ;  and  coming  with  this  pre- 
paration before  an  audience  of  simple-minded 
settlers,  preacher  and  people  freed  from  con- 
ventional restraint,  these  men  almost  always 
moved  the  hearts  and  wrought  upon  the  imag- 
ination of  their  hearers  as  only  those  gifted 
with  the  truest  eloquence  can.  Of  course  the 
immediate  result  of  such  preaching  was  to 
awaken  the  religious  element,  rather  than  to 
inform  the  understanding  as  to  doctrines  and 
dogmas — to  lead  to  spiritual  exaltation  and  re- 
ligious fervor,  rather  than  to  a  clear  knowledge 
and  appreciation  of  those  points  of  theological 
controversy  which  for  so  many  centuries  have 
engaged  the  attention  of  disputatious  divines. 
It  is  not  intended  to  decide  which  of  the  two 
methods  is  the  better  calculated  to  evangelize 
the  world.  But  as  to  the  great  value  of  the 
preaching  here  spoken  of,  and  its  singular 
adaptation  to  the  people  to  whom  it  was  ad- 
dressed, there  can  be  but  one  opinion.  That 
it  exerted  a  marked  influence  upon  the  charac- 
ter of  young  Lincoln,  that  it  thoroughly  awa- 
kened the  religious  element  within  him,  and 
that  his  subsequent  life  has  been  greatly  in- 
fluenced by  it,  are  facts  which  the  writer  de- 
sires to  place  upon  record  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  other  laborers  in  the  same  field,  and 


as  a  distinct  recognition  of  the  further  fact 
that  there  can  be  no  true  and  lasting  great- 
ness unless  its  foundation  be  laid  in  the  truths 
of  the  Bible. 

And  thus  young  Lincoln  grew  to  manhood, 
constantly  engaged  in  the  various  kinds  of 
labor  incident  to  the  country  and  the  times — 
felling  the  forest,  clearing  the  ground  of  the 
undergrowth  and  of  logs,  splitting  rails,  pull- 
ing the  cross-cut  and  the  whip-saw,  driving  the 
frower,  plowing,  harrowing,  planting,  hoeing, 
harvesting,  assisting  at  house-raisings,  log- 
rollings andcorn-huskings;  mingling  cordially 
with  the  simple-minded,  honest  people  with 
whom  his  lot  was  cast,  developing  a  kindly 
nature,  and  evincing  social  qualities  which 
rendered  his  companionship  desirable ;  remark- 
able even  then  for  a  wonderful  gift  of  relating 
anecdotes,  and  for  a  talent  of  intei-spersing 
them  with  acute  and  apt  reflections  ;  every- 
where a  favorite,  always  simple,  genial,  truth- 
ful, and  unpretending,  and  always  chosen  um- 
pire on  occasions  calling  for  the  exercise  of 
sound  judgment  and  inflexible  impartiality. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  he  also 
greatly  excelled  in  all  those  homely  feats  of 
strength,  agility,  and  endurance,  practiced  by 
frontier  people  in  his  sphere  of  life.  In  wrest- 
ling, jumping,  running,  throwing  the  maul  and 
pitching  the  crow-bar,  he  always  stood  first 
among  those  of  his  own  age.  As  in  height  he 
loomed  above  all  his  associates,  so  in  these 
customary  pastimes  he  as  far  surpassed  his 
youthful  competitors,  and  even  when  pitted 
against  those  of  maturer  years,  he  was  almost 
always  victorious.  In  such  daily  companion- 
ship, he  grew  up  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
people,  rejoicing  in  their  simple  joys  and 
pleasures,  sorrowing  in  their  trials  and  misfor- 
tunes, and  united  to  them  all  by  that  bond  of 
brotherhood  among  the  honest  poor — a  com- 
mon heritage  of  labor. 


CHAPTER    II 


REMOVAL      TO      ILLINOIS. 

Illinois  in  1829— Explorers  in  the  Northern  and  Middle  Portion  of  the  State— Character  of  the  Country— Remarkable 
Influx  of  Population— Removal  of  the  Lincoln  Farnily— Their  Mode  of  Travel— Founding  another  Home — Building 
a  Log  Cabin  and  making  Rails — Symbols. 


FROM  1829  until  the  financial  revulsion  of 
1837-40,  a  vast  flood  of  immigration 
poured  into  Illinois.  At  the  first-named  date, 
the  population  of  the  State  was  only  about 
150,000 — a  number  scarcely  equal  to  the  pres- 
ent population  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  This 
population  was  confined  mostly  to  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  State.  There  were  compara- 
tively few  people  north  of  Alton,  and  these,  as 
is  always  the  case  in  the  settlement  of  a  new 


country,  were  scattered  along  the  rivers  and 
smaller  watercourses.  And  even  south  of 
Alton,  in  the  older-settled  portion  of  the 
State,  most  of  the  population  still  clung  either 
to  the  water-courses  or  close  to  the  edges  of  the 
timber-land.  The  large  prairies,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  narrow  belt  along  the  fringes  of 
timber,  were  wholly  uncultivated  and  without 
population.  Indeed,  at  that  time,  and  for 
many  years  after,  it  was  the  opinion  of  even 


5 


the  most  intelligent  people,  that  the  larger 
prairies  of  Illinois  would  never  be  used  for  any 
other  purpose  than  as  a  common  pasturage  for 
the  cattle  of  adjacent  settlers.  It  is  only  of 
later  years,  and  since  the  introduction  of  rail- 
roads, that  the  true  value  and  destiny  of  these 
prairies  have  come  to  be  understood  and  ap- 
preciated. Thus,  in  1829,  only  an  infinitesi- 
mal portion  of  the  better  part  of  Illinois  was 
occupied.  At  the  same  time,  the  people  of  the 
other  States  entertained  very  imperfect  no- 
tions of  the  character  of  the  country  and  of  its 
wonderful  natural  resources.  The  first  settle- 
ment by  an  indigenous  American  population 
had  been  the  result  of  the  accounts  carried 
back  to  the  old  States  by  the  soldiers  who  ac- 
companied the  gallant  George  Rogers  Clark  in 
that  memorable  expedition  in  1778,  which 
resulted  in  the  conquest  of  Kaskaskia,  Caho- 
kia,  and  Vincennes.  Another  impetus  was 
given  in  the  same  direction  after  the  war  of 
1812,  by  similar  reports  of  the  beauty  and 
fertility  of  the  country  taken  back  by  rangers 
and  other  troops  who  had  done  service  in  the 
then  territory  of  Illinois.  But  from  that  time 
until  the  year  1829,  the  increase  of  population 
by  immigration  had  been  very  slow.  The  era 
of  financial  prosperity  which  terminated  in 
the  memorable  financial  break-down  of  1837- 
40,  gave  another  impulse  to  western  immigra- 
tion. The  Anglo-Saxon  greed  for  land  was 
stimulated  to  unusual  activity  by  the  abun- 
dance of  money,  and  explorers  started  out  in 
search  of  new  and  desirable  countries.  Enter- 
ing Illinois  by  the  great  lines  of  travel — at 
Vincennes,  at  Terre  Haute,  at  Paducah,  at 
Shawneetown,  and  journeying  westward  and 
northward,  these  explorers  were  struck  with 
the  wonderful  beauty  and  fertility  of  the 
country,  and  the  ease  with  which  it  could  be 
reduced  to  immediate  cultivation.  Its  rich, 
undulating  prairies,  its  vast  natural  pasturage 
for  cattle,  the  accessibility  to  navigable  water- 
courses, the  salubrity  of  its  climate,  and, 
above  all,  its  millions  of  acres  of  government 
land,  conspired  to  render  it  peculiarly  at- 
tractive to  men  who  had  been  accustomed  all 
their  lives  to  mountainous  and  rocky  districts, 
or  to  a  country  covered  with  heavy  forests. 
Other  explorers,  entering  the  State  from  the 
direction  of  the  great  Northwestern  Lakes, 
and  traversing  it  southward  and  westward  to 
the  Mississippi,  saw  at  every  stage  of  their 
journey,  a  country  no  less  fertile  and  inviting, 
the  sylvan  beauty  of  which  no  pen  or  pencil 
could  adequately  portray.  The  reports  spread 
by  these  travelers,  on  their  return  to  the  older 
States,  regarding  the  wonderful  region  they 
had  seen,  together  with  occasional  letters  con- 
tributed to  leading  journals  by  delighted  and 
enthusiastic  tourists,  awakened  a  spirit  of 
emigration  the  like  of  whi  h  the  country  had 
never  before  witnessed.     The  stream  of  popu- 


lation that  set  at  ance  Illinoisward  continued, 
from  this  and  other  causes,  to  grow  constantly 
broader  and  deeper — coming  in  from  the 
South,  setting  westward  from  the  belt  of  Mid- 
dle States,  pouring  in  by  way  of  the  North- 
western Lakes — dotting  every  prairie  with 
new  homes,  opening  thousands  of  farms,  mak- 
ing roads,  building  bridges,  founding  schools, 
churches,  villages,  and  cities — until  the  crash 
of  1837  came  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
upon  the  country,  putting  an  immediate  and 
effectual  check  upon  the  human  movement. 

Among  those  who  heard  the  earliest  reports 
concerning  this  land  of  promise,  were  the  Lin- 
coln family,  in  their  quiet  home  in  Indiana, 
and  they  resolved  to  try  their  fortunes  in  it. 
Accordingly,  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1830, 
Abraham  having  just  completed  his  twenty- 
first  year,  his  father  and  family,  together  with 
the  families  of  the  two  daughters  and  sons-in- 
law  of  his  step-mother,  bidding  adieu  to  the 
old  homestead  in  Indiana,  turned  their  faces 
towards  Illinois.  In  those  days,  when  people 
changed  their  residence  from  one  State  or  set- 
tlement to  another,  they  took  all  their  mova- 
ble possessions  with  them — their  household 
goods,  their  kitchen  utensils,  including  pro- 
visions for  the  journey,  their  farming  imple- 
ments, their  horses  and  cattle.  The  former 
were  loaded  into  wagons  drawn,  for  the  most 
part,  by  oxen,  and  the  latter  were  driven  by  the 
smaller  boys  of  the  family,  who  were  some- 
times assisted  by  their  sisters  and  mother. 
Thus  arranged  for  a  journey  of  weeks, — not 
unfrequently  of  months, — the  emigrant  set 
out,  thinking  but  little  of  the  hardships  be- 
fore him — of  bad  roads,  of  unb ridged  streams, 
of  disagreeable  weather,  of  sleeping  on  the 
ground  or  in  the  wagon,  of  sickness,  acci- 
dents, and,  sometimes,  death,  by  the  way — 
dwelling  chiefly  in  thought  upon  the  novelty 
and  excitement  of  the  trip,  the  rumored  at- 
tractions of  the  new  country  whither  he  was 
going,  and  of  the  probable  advantages  likely 
to  result  from  the  change.  By  stages  of  ten 
or  fifteen  miles  per  day,  over  untraveled  roads, 
now  across  mountains,  swamps,  and  water- 
courses, and  now  through  dense,  umbrageous 
forests,  and  across  broad  prairies  where  the 
horizon  alone  bounded  the  vision,  the  caravan 
of  wagons,  men,  women,  and  children,  flocks 
and  herds,  toiled  onward  by  day,  sleeping 
under  the  broad  canopy  of  stars  by  night,  pa- 
tiently accomplishing  the  destined  journey, 
sometimes  of  weeks' — sometimes  of  months' — 
duration. 

It  was  by  this  primitive  and  laborious 
method  that  the  Lincoln  family  made  the  jour- 
ney from  Spencer  county,  Indiana,  to  NIacon 
county,  Illinois — Abraham  himself  driving 
one  of  the  ox-teams.  He  had  now  arrived  at 
manhood,  and  both  by  law  and  by  universal 
custom,  was  at  liberty  to  begin  the  world  for 


himself.  But  he  was  the  only  son  of  his 
father,  now  advanced  in  years,  and  it  was  not 
in  his  nature  to  desert  his  aged  sire  at  a  time 
when  all  the  hardships,  privations,  and  toil 
of  making  a  new  home  in  a  new  country, 
were  about  to  be  entered  upon.  AVhatever 
the  future  may  have  seemed  to  hold  in  it  as  a 
reward  for  eftort  specially  directed  to  that  end, 
he  cheerfully  put  aside  in  obedience  to  his 
sense  of  duty,  and  engaged  at  once  and  heart- 
ily in  the  work  before  him.  That  summer's 
labor  consisted,  mainly,  in  building  a  log 
house,  into  which  the  family  moved,  making 
rails  for,  and  fencing  in  ten  acres  of  prairie, 
breaking  the  sod,  and  raising  upon  it  a 
crop  of  corn.  This  farm  was  situated  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Sangamon  river,  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  timber  land  and  prairie,  and  about 
ten  miles  west  of  Decatur.  The  rails  used  in 
fencing  in  the  ten-acre  field  are  those  of  which 
so  much,  of  late,  has  been  said  in  the  news- 
papers. Their  existence  was  brought  to  the 
public  attention  during  the  sitting  of  the  Re- 
publican State  Convention,  at  Decatur,  on  the 


9th  of  May  last,  on  which  occasion  a  banner 
attached  to  two  of  these  rails,  and  bearing  an 
appropriate  inscription,  was  brought  into  the 
assemblage,  and  formally  presented  to  that 
body,  amid  a  scene  of  unparalleled  enthusi- 
asm. Since  then,  they  have  been  in  great  de- 
mand in  every  State  of  the  Union  in  which 
free  labor  is  honored,  where  they  have  been 
borne  in  processions  of  the  people,  and  hailed 
by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  freemen  as  a 
symbol  of  triumph,  and  as  a  glorious  vindica- 
tion of  freedom,  and  of  the  rights  and  the  dig- 
nity of  free  labor.  These,  however,  were  far 
from  being  the  first  or  only  rails  made  by 
young  Lincoln.  He  was  a  practiced  hand  at 
the  business.  His  first  lessons  had  been 
taken  while  yet  a  boy  in  Indiana.  Some 
of  the  rails  made  by  him  in  that  State  have  ' 
been  clearly  identified,  and  are  now  eagerly 
sought  after.  The  writer  has  seen  a  cane, 
now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  made 
since  his  nomination  by  one  of  his  old  Indiana 
acquaintances,  from  one  of  those  rails  split, 
by  his  own  hands  in  boyhood. 


CHAPTER    III. 


FLAT- BOATMAN — CLEKK — INDIAN- FIGHTER. 

Fiat-Boats  and  Flat-Boatmen — A  Commercial  Revolution — The  deep  Snow — Lincoln  engages  to  take  a  Plat-Boat  Ur 
New  ©rleans — Incident  of  his  first  Trip — First  entrance  into  Sangamon  County — Builds  a  Boat,  and  goes  to  New 
Orleans — Takes  Charge  of  a  Store  and  Mill  at  New  Salem — Primitive  Customs — Personal  Popularity — The  Black 
Hawk  War— Volunteers— Elected  Captain— Volunteers  a  Second  and  Third  Time— The  War  Ended— Return  Home. 


THOSE  who  have  come  into  Illinois  since 
steamboats  became  numerous  on  the 
Western  waters,  and  since  the  introduction  of 
railroads,  and  the  opening  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal,  have  no  correct  idea  how 
small  an  amount  of  business  was  transacted  in 
the  State  so  late  as  1830,  or  of  the  great  com- 
mercial revolution  which  has  taken  place  since 
that  time.  At  the  period  named  there  was 
but  little  inducement  for  growing  surplus  pro- 
ductions. The  merchants  of  the  country  did 
not  deal  in  corn,  wheat,  flour,  beef,  pork,  lard, 
butter,  or  any  of  the  great  staples  of  the  State. 
Beyond  the  purchase  of  a  few  furs  and  peltries, 
small  quantities  of  feathers,  beeswax,  and  tal- 
low, the  merchant  rarely  engaged  in  barter. 
The  old  United  States  Bank  was  then  in  exist- 
ence, and  through  it  the  exchanges  of  the  coun- 
try were  conducted  at  a  rate  so  satisfactory  that 
no  Western  merchant  thought  of  shipping  the 
products  of  the  country  to  liquidate  his  East- 
ern balances.  He  bought  his  goods  for  cash,  or 
on  credit,  and  collected  his  debts,  if  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  collect  at  all,  in  the  same  commod- 
ity, and  never  paid  any  of  it  out  again,  except 
for  goods.  The  dependence  of  the  country  for 
monev  was  chiefly  upon  that  brought  in  by 


new  settlers.  Occasionally  an  adventurer  ap- 
peared who  paid  out  money  for  sufiicient  of 
the  products  of  the  country  to  load  a  flat-boat, 
which  he  floated  off  to  find  a  market.  Some- 
times the  more  enterprising  of  the  farmers, 
finding  no  market  at  home  for  the  surplus  of 
their  farms,  loaded  a  flat-boat  on  their  own 
account,  and  by  this  means  some  money  found 
its  way  into  the  country.  Within  the  last 
twenty  years  this  order  of  things  has  entirely 
changed,  and  at  the  present  time  every  de' 
scription  of  surplus  product  meets  a  ready 
cash  market  at  home.  While  the  old  order 
lasted,  however,  the  business  of  shipping  by 
flat-boats  was  maintained  on  all  the  Western 
rivers,  though  the  multiplication  and  compe- 
tition of  steamboats  rendered  the  number  less 
every  year.  The  business  itself  was  one  of 
exposure,  of  hard  labor,  and  of  constant  peril. 
It  developed  and  nurtured  a  race  of  men  pe- 
culiar for  courage,  herculean  strength,  hardi- 
hood, and  great  contempt  of  danger.  Western 
annals  abound  in  stories  of  these  men.  As  a 
class  they  have  become  extinct,  and  the  world 
will  never  see  their  like  again;  but  their  mem- 
ory remains,  and  will  constitute  a  part  of  the 
country's  history,  and  mingle  with  our  na- 


tional  romance  forever.  This  much  it  seemed 
necessary  to  say  for  the  benefit  of  the  unini- 
tiated reader,  by  way  of  preface  to  some 
account  of  young  Lincoln's  experiences  as  a 
flat-boatman.  Going  back  then  to  the  new 
home  on  the  Sangamon  River,  we  take  up 
again  the  thread  of  the  narrative. 

The  winter  of  1830-31  is  memorable  to  this 
day  among  the  early  settlers  of  Illinoi.s,  by 
reason  of  the  deep  snow  x\  hich  fell  about  tiie 
last  of  December,  and  which  continued  upon 
the  ground  for  more  than  two  months.  It 
was  a  season  of  unusual  severity,  both  upon 
•the  settlers  and  their  stock.  Many  of  the 
latter  peiished  from  exposure  to  the  cold  and 
from  hunger,  while  the  former,  especially 
the  more  recently  arrived  of  their  number, 
were  often  put  to  great  straits  to  obtain  pro- 
visions. Of  these  hardships  the  Lincolns  and 
their  immediate  neighbors  had  their  full  share, 
and  but  for  Abraham,  whose  vigor  of  consti- 
tution and  remarkable  power  of  endurance 
fitted  him  for  long  and  wearisome  journeys  in 
search  of  provisions,  their  suffering  would 
have  been  often  greater. 

Some  time  during  the  winter,  one  of  those 
adventurers  previously  spoken  of — Denton 
Offut — engaged  in  buying  a  boat-load  of  pro- 
duce to  ship  in  the  spring,  fell  in  with  young 
Lincoln.  Conceiving  a  liking  for  him,  and 
having  learned  also  that  he  had  previously 
taken  a  flat-boat  down  the  Mississippi,  OfFut 
■engaged  him,  together  with  his  step-mother's 
son,  John  D.  Johnston,  and  his  mother's 
cousin,  John  Hanks,  to  take  a  flat  boat  from 
Beardstown,  on  the  Illinois  River,  to  New 
Orleans. 

Lincoln's  first  trip  to  New  Orleans  had  been 
made  from  the  Ohio  River,  while  living  in  In- 
diana, and  when  he  was  in  the  nineteenth 
year  of  his  age.  On  that  occasion  also  he  was 
a  hired  hand  merely,  and  he  and  the  son  of 
the  owner,  without  other  assistance,  made  the 
•trip.  A  part  of  the  cargo  had  been  selected 
with  special  reference  to  the  wants  of  the  sugar 
plantations,  and  the  young  adventurers  were 
instructed  to  linger  upon  the  sugar  coast  for 
the  purpose  of  disposing  of  it.  On  one  occa- 
■sion  they  tied  up  their  boat  for  the  night  near 
•a  plantation  at  which  they  had  been  trading 
during  the  afternoon.  The  negroes  observing 
that  the  boat  was  in  charge  of  but  two  per- 
sons, seven  of  them  formed  a  plan  to  rob  it 
during  the  night.  Their  intention  evidently 
was  to  murder  the  young  men,  rob  the  boat 
of  whatever  money  there  might  be  on  it,  carry 
off  such  articles  as  they  could  secrete  in  their 
cabins,  and  then,  by  sinking  the  boat,  destroy 
all  traces  of  their  guilt.  They  had  not,  how- 
ever, properly  estimated  the  courage  and 
prowess  of  the  two  young  men  in  charge. 
The  latter,  being  on  their  guard,  gave  the 
would-be  robbers  and  assassins  a  warm  recep- 


tion, and,  notwithstanding  the  disparity  in 
numbers,  after  a  severe  struggle,  in  which 
both  Lincoln  and  his  companion  were  consid- 
erably hurt,  the  former  were  driven  from  the 
boat.  At  the  close  of  the  fight,  the  j'oung 
navigators  lost  no  time  in  getting  their  boat 
again  under  way. 

The  trip  in  the  main  was  successful,  and  in 
due  time  the  young  men  returned  to  their 
homes  in  Indiana. 

Lincoln  and  his  associates  for  a  second  trip, 
Johnson  and  Hanks,  were  to  join  OfFut  at 
Springfield,  Illinois,  as  soon  as  the  snow  had 
disappeared,  whence  they  were  to  go  with 
him  to  Beardstown,  the  port  of  departure,  for 
New  Orleans.  When  the  snow  melted,  which 
was  about  the  first  of  March,  the  whole  coun- 
try was  so  flooded  as  to  render  traveling 
impracticable.  This  led  the  party  to  purchase 
a  canoe,  in  which  they  descended  the  Sanga- 
mon River  to  a  point  within  a  few  miles  of 
Springfield.  This  was  the  time  and  this  the 
method  of  Lincoln's  first  entrance  into  Sanga- 
mon county — a  county  which  was  to  be  the 
field  of  his  future  triumphs,  which  was  to  be- 
come proud  of  him  as  her  most  distinguished 
citizen,  and  which,  in  time,  was  to  be  honored 
through  him  with  being  the  home  of  a  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  On  arriving  at 
Springfield,  they  learned  from  OfFut  that,  not 
having  been  able  to  purchase  a  boat  in  Beards- 
town, he  had  concluded  to  build  one  on  the 
Sangamon  River.  Lincoln,  Hanks,  and  John- 
ston were  hired  for  that  purpose,  at  twelve 
dollars  per  month,  and  going  into  the  woods, 
they  got  out  the  necessary  timber  and  built  a 
boat  at  the  town  of  Sangamon,  near  where  the 
Chicago,  Alton,  and  St.  Louis  Railroad  now 
crosses  the  Sangamon  River,  which  they  took 
to  New  Orleans  upon  the  old  contract. 

The  writer  has  not  been  put  in  possession 
of  any  of  the  incidents  connected  with  this 
trip.  It  is  sufficient  for  the  present  purpose, 
however,  to  know  that  so  well  did  young  Lin- 
coln bear  himself  throughout — so  faithful  in 
all  the  trusts  reposed  in  him  by  his  employer ; 
so  active,  prompt,  and  efficient  in  all  neces- 
sary labor ;  so  cool,  determined,  and  full  of 
resources  in  the  presence  of  danger — that  be- 
fore reaching  New  Orleans,  Offut  had  become 
greatly  attached  to  him,  and  on  their  return 
engaged  him  to  take  the  general  chai'ge  of  a 
store  and  mill  in  the  village  of  New  Salem, 
then  in  Sangamon,  now  in  Menard  County. 

In  July,  1831,  Lincoln  was  fairly  installed 
in  this  new  business.  In  those  primitive  times 
the  country  merchant  was  a  personage  of  vast 
consequence.  He  was  made  the  repository  of 
all  the  news  of  the  surrounding  settlements, 
and  as  he  "took  the  papers,"  he  was  able  to 
post  his  customers  as  to  the  affairs  of  state  and 
the  news  of  the  world  generally.  His  acquire- 
ments in  this  last  respect  were  as  astounding 


8 


to  the  country  people  as  were  those  of  Gold- 
smith's village  schoolmaster  to  the  simple 
rustics.  His  store  was  a  place  of  common 
resort  for  the  people  on  rainy  days,  and  at 
those  periods  of  the  j'ear  when  farm-work  was 
not  pressing,  and  nearly  always  on  Saturday 
afternoons.  There  all  the  topics  of  the  neigh- 
borhood and  of  the  times  were  discussed,  the 
merchant  usually  bearing  the  leading  part,  and 
all  disputed  points  of  past  history  or  of  cur- 
rent events  were  always  referred  to  him,  as 
the  ultimate  tribunal,  for  decision.  His  word 
and  opinion,  in  these  respects,  were  supreme, 
never  disputed,  and  triumphantly  repeated 
by  the  fortunate  first-hearers  at  all  casual 
meetings  with  neighbors,  and  at  all  the  little 
neighborhood  gatherings  at  which  the  oracle 
was  not  present. 

Young  Lincoln's  acquirements  and  natural 
gifts  most  admirably  fitted  him  for  the  dis- 
tinction awarded  to  men  engaged  in  his  new 
occupation.  He  had  read  a  few  books,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  been  twice  to  New  Orleans, 
and  otherwise  had  observed  a  good  deal  of  the 
world,  treasuring  up  whatever  he  had  seen 
faithfully  in  his  memory.  He  had  an  unfail- 
ing fund  of  anecdote ;  he  was  an  admirable 
talker,  sharp,  witty,  good-humored,  and  pos- 
sessed also  of  an  accommodating  spirit  which 
always  led  him  to  exert  himself  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  his  friends,  as  well  as  to  be  ever 
ready  to  do  any  of  them  a  kind  and  neighborly 
turn  when  his  assistance  was  needed.  In  a 
very  little  time  he  had  become  the  most  pop- 
ular man  in  the  neighborhood.  His  new 
acquaintances  respected  him  for  his  upright- 
ness, honored  him  for  his  intelligence,  admired 
him  for  his  genial  and  social  qualities,  and 
loved  him  him  for  that  deep,  earnest  sympa- 
thy which  he  ever  manifested  for  those  who 
were  unfortunate  in  their  enterprises,  or  who 
were  overtaken  by  some  great  sorrow.  How 
much  they  confided  in  him,  honored  and  loved 
him,  will  be  seen  a  little  further  on. 

Early  in  the  following  spring  (1832)  the 
Black  Hawk  war  broke  out  in  the  northwest- 
ern part  of  the  State.  The  previous  year  a 
part  of  the  tribes  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians 
had  recrossed  the  Mississippi  from  its  western 
bank,  and  taken  possession  of  their  old  town 
on  Rock  River,  a  few  miles  above  its  mouth, 
and  about  four  miles  from  where  the  city  of 
Rock  Island  is  now  situated.  The  Indian  title 
to  the  lands  in  that  vicinity  had  been  extin- 
guished by  a  treaty  made  with  the  chiefs  of 
the  Sac  and  Fox  Nations  at  St.  Louis,  in  1804, 
which  treaty  was  afterwards  confirmed  by 
a  portion  of  the  tribes  in  1815,  and  by  another 
portion  in  1816.  Black  Hawk  always  denied 
the  validity  of  these  treaties,  and,  in  fact,  of 
all  the  treaties  made  by  his  people  with  the 
whites.  In  the  war  of  1812,  he  had  co-opera- 
ted with  the  British  army,  and  had  conceived 


an  unconquerable  hatred  of  the  Americans; 
The  lands  on  which  the  great  town  of  his  na- 
tion was  situated  had  recently  been  surveyed 
and  brought  into  market,  and  a  number  of 
white  settlers  had  gone  upon  them.  This 
aroused  the  enmity  of  the  old  chieftain,  and 
taking  with  him  his  women  and  children,  and 
as  many  warriors  as  he  could  in.spire  with  the 
same  feeling,  he  returned  to  his  former  haunts, 
took  possession  of  the  ancient  metropolis  of 
his  people,  ordered  the  white  settlers  away, 
killed  their  stock,  unroofed  their  houses,  pulled 
down  their  fences,  and  cut  up  their  growing 
grain.  News  of  these  outrages  reaching  Gov. 
Reynolds,  at  his  request  Gen.  Gaines  proceed- 
ed at  once  to  Rock  Island.  Becoming  con- 
vinced that  Black  Hawk  meditated  war  on  the 
settlers.  Gen.  Gaines  called  upon  Gov.  Rey- 
nolds for  a  small  force  of  mounted  volunteers. 
These  were  soon  in  the  field,  and  in  a  short 
time,  together  with  a  few  regular  troops,  ap- 
peared before  Black  Hawk's  town.  The  latter, 
with  his  women  and  children  and  fighting 
men,  retreated  across  the  Mississippi  without 
firing  a  gun;  the  volunteers  destroyed  the 
town,  and  encamped  upon  the  Mississippi,  on 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Rock  Island. 
Black  Hawk,  anticipating  that  the  troops 
would  follow  him  to  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
came  into  Fort  Armstrong  and  sued  for  peace. 
A  treaty  was  then  made  in  which  it  was  stip- 
ulated that  Black  Hawk's  people  should  re- 
main forever  after  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river,  never  to  recross  it  without  permission 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States  or  the 
Governor  of  Illinois.*  This  treaty  proved  to 
be  but  an  Indian's  stratagem.  Black  Hawk's 
sole  object  in  making  it  was  to  gain  time  in 
order  to  perfect  his  preparations.  He  was 
fully  bent  upon  war,  and  early  in  the  following 
spring  he  recrossed  the  Mississippi,  in  force, 
moving  up  the  valley  of  the  Rock  River  to  the 
country  of  the  Pottawattomies  and  the  Win- 
nebagoes,  whom  he  hoped  to  make  his  allies. 

As  soon  as  apprized  of  these  facts.  Gov. 
Reynolds  issued  a  call  for  four  regiments  of 
volunteers.  Among  the  earliest  in  his  neigh- 
borhood to  enroll  himself  for  this  service,  was 
young  Lincoln.  A  company  was  formed  in 
New  Salem,  and  to  his  own  great  surprise, 
though  doubtless  not  to  the  surprise  of  any 
one  else,  Lincoln  was  chosen  captain.  This 
was  the  first  evidence  he  had  ever  received  of 
popularity  among  his  acquaintances,  and  he 
has  often  said,  later  in  life  and  since  he  has 
won  the  distinction  of  a  leading  man  in  the 
nation,  that  no  other  success  ever  gave  him 
so  much  unalloyed  satisfaction.  The  volun- 
teers rendezvoused  at  Beardstown.  Here  Lin- 
coln's company  joined  its  regiment,  and  after 
a  few  days  of  rapid  marching  the  scene  of 

*  Ford's  History  of  Illinois,  page  lOS,  et  seq. 


■conflict  was  reached.  It  is  not  the  intention 
to  give  an  account  of  this  war.  It  was  of  short 
duration.  Black  Hawk  took  the  field  early  in 
April.  In  the  last  days  of  the  following  July 
the  decisive  battle  of  the  Bad  Axe  was  fought, 
which  put  an  end  to  the  war ;  and  a  few  days 
thereafter  Black  Hawk,  and  his  principal 
braves  who  had  escaped  the  bullet  and  the  bay- 
onet, were  prisoners  of  war  at  Fort  Armstrong, 
on  Rock  Island.  But  short  as  it  was,  the  In- 
dians showed  themselves  to  be  courageous, 
desperate,  and  merciless.  Their  war  parties 
traversed  the  whole  country  from  Rock  Island 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Chicago,  and  from  the 
Illinois  River  into  the  territory  of  Wisconsin ; 
they  occupied  every  grove,  waylaid  every 
road,  hung  around  every  Settlement,  picked 
oflF  many  of  the  settlers  without  regard  to  age, 
sex,  or  condition,  and  attacked  every  small 
party  of  white  men  that  attempted  to  pene- 
trate the  country.* 

The  first  levy  of  volunteers  was  called  out  for 
but  thirty  days.  At  the  end  of  that  time  they 
were  disbanded  at  Ottawa  without  having 
seen  the  enemy. 

*  Ford's  History  of  Illinois,  page  128. 


When  the  troops  were  disbanded,  most  of 
them  returned  home.  Lincoln,  however,  had 
gone  out  for  the  war,  and  a  new  levy  being 
called  for,  he  again  volunteered  and  served  as 
a  private.  A  second  time  his  regiment  was 
disbanded,  and  again  he  volunteered.  When 
his  third  term  of  service  had  expired  the  war 
was  about  concluded,  and  he  returned  home. 
Having  lost  his  horse,  near  where  the  town  of 
Janesville,  Wisconsin,  now  stands,  he  went 
down  Rock  River  to  Dixon  in  a  canoe.  Thence 
he  crossed  the  country  on  foot  to  Peoria,  where 
he  again  took  canoe  to  a  point  on  the  Illinois 
River  within  forty  miles  of  home.  The  latter 
distance  he  accomplished  on  foot,  having  been 
in  active  service  nearly  three  months.  We 
have  been  told  by  men  who  were  with  Lincoln 
during  this  campaign,  that  he  was  always 
prompt  and  energetic  in  the  performance  of 
duty,  never  shrinking  from  danger  or  hard- 
ship; that  he  was  a  universal  favorite,  the  best 
talker,  the  best  story-teller,  and  the  best  at  a 
wrestling-match  or  a  foot-race  in  the  whole 
army.  He  still  owns  the  land  in  Iowa  on  which 
his  own  warrants  for  this  service  were  located. 


CHAPTER    IV 


MERCHANT — SURVETOK — LEGISLATOR — LAWYER. 

Lincoln  a  Candidate  for  the  Legislature — The  vote  of  New  Salem — Merchant  again — Studies  English  Grammar — Dep- 
uty Surveyor— Elected  to  the  Legislature — Douglas's  Opinion  of  Lincoln — The  True  Test  of  Genius — Studies  Law, 
and  removes  to  Springfield — A  Reminiscence — Lincoln's  First  Speech — Political  Complexion  of  Illinois  for  Twenty 
Years — Lincoln  Recognized  as  a  Leader — Twice  he  receives  the  vote  of  his  Party  for  Speaker — Summary  of  liis  career 
in  the  State  Legislature. 


PRIOR  to  the  adoption  of  the  present  consti- 
tution of  Illinois,  in  1847,  elections  for  State 
officers  and  Members  of  the  Legislature  were 
held  on  the  first  Monday  in  August — for  the 
former  once  in  four  years,  for  the  latter  once 
in  every  two  years.  Lincoln's  return  to  New 
Salem  was,  therefore,  but  a  few  days  before 
the  election  of  that  year  for  Members  of  the 
Legislature.  The  system  of  nominating  can- 
didates for  office  by  county  and  State  conven- 
tions had  not  then  been  introduced  into 
Illinois.  Indeed,  party  lines  and  party  desig- 
nations were  at  that  time  scarcely  known  in 
the  State.  There  were  "  Clay  Men,"  "  Jack- 
son Men,"  "Adams  Men,"  "  Crawford  Men," 
and  so  on,  but  no  clearly  defined  party  creeds 
around  which  men  of  similar  views  rallied  to 
make  common  cause  against  those  holding 
opposite  opinions.  Men  announced  them- 
selves as  candidates  for  the  various  elective 
oflBces.  It  was  a  very  rare  circumstance  that 
a  contest  for  an  office  was  narrowed  down  to 
two  candidates.  More  frequently  a  half  dozen 
eager  aspirants  contested  the  prize. 


The  county  of  Sangamon  was  entitled  to  four 
members  in  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  there  were  at  the  time  of  Lincoln's 
return,  more  than  twice  that  number  of  can- 
didates. Among  the  number  were  some  of  the 
ablest,  best  known,  and  most  popular  men  of 
the  county,  of  whom  may  be  mentioned  John 
T.  Stuart,  afterwards  Representative  in  Con- 
gress, Col.  E.  D,  Taylor,  Peter  Cartwright, 
the  famous  eccentric  Methodist  preacher,  and 
others  of  considerable  note.  These  gentlemen 
had  been  in  the  field  some  time  before  the  re- 
turn of  Lincoln — had  canvassed  the  county 
thoroughly,  defining  their  position  on  local 
and  other  questions,  and  obtaining  promises 
of  support. 

Lincoln  had  no  sooner  returned  than  he  was 
urgently  besought  by  his  friends  at  New  Sa- 
lem to  enter  the  lists  for  the  Legislature 
against  this  array  of  strong  men  and  old  citi- 
zens. These  entreaties,  continued  from  day 
to  day,  together  with  the  cordial  reception  he 
had  just  received  at  the  hands  of  all  his  old 
acquaintances,  induced  him,  against  his  better 


10 


judgment,  to  give  a  reluctant  assent,  know- 
ing very  well  that,  under  the  circumstances, 
his  election  was  entirely  out  of  the  question. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  county  was  a 
large  one  ;  that  he  had  lived  in  it  only  from 
July  to  the  following  April;  that  he  had  but 
few  acquaintances  outside  of  the  precinct  of 
New  Salem;  and  that  the  election  was  so 
near  at  hand  as  to  deprive  him  of  the  oppor- 
tunity of  visiting  other  portions  of  the  county, 
and  making  himself  known  to  the  people. 
Nevertheless,  when  the  election  came  off,  he 
was  but  a  few  votes  behind  the  successful 
candidates.  His  own  precinct— New  Salem — 
gave  him  277  votes  in  a  poll  of  284;  and  this 
too  in  the  face  of  his  avowed  preferences  for 
Mr.  Clay,  and  notwithstanding  the  same  pre- 
cinct at  the  Presidential  election,  three  months 
later,  gave  a  majority  of  115  for  General  Jack- 
son. The  result  of  this  election,  though  prac- 
tically a  defeat,  was,  all  circumstances 
considered,  a  most  brilliant  triumph,  clearly 
presaging  success  in  any  future  trial  he  mijrht 
make.  And  never  since  that  day  has  Mr. 
Lincoln  been  beaten  in  any  du'ect  vote  of  the 
people. 

Having  received  such  generous  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  his  New  Salem  fiiends,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln resolved  to  make  the  place  his  permanent 
home.  He  was  wholly  Without  means,  and  at 
a  loss  as  to  what  he  should  try  to  do.  At  one 
time  he  had  almost  concluded  to  learn  the 
trade  of  a  blacksmith.  Those  who  discerned 
in  the  young  man  qualities  which  he  had  not 
yet  suspected  himself  to  be  the  possessor  of, 
urged  him  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  profes- 
sion of  law;  but  he  always  met  sugges- 
tions of  this  character  with  objections  based 
upon  his  lack  of  education.  While  yet  in  a 
quandary  as  to  the  future,  he  was  very  unex- 
pectedly met  with  a  proposition  to  purchase 
on  credit,  in  connection  with  another  man  as 
poor  as  himself,  an  old  stock  of  goods.  The 
ofifer  was  accepted,  and  forthwith  he  was  in- 
stalled at  the  head  of  a  village  store.  It  is 
needless  to  recount  the  difficulties  which  be- 
set him  as  a  merchant.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  after  a  manly  struggle  with  certain  ad- 
verse circumstances  for  which  he  was  not  re- 
sponsible, he  relinquished  the  business,  finding 
himself  encumbered  with  debt — which  he 
afterwards  paid  to  the  last  farthing.  While 
engaged  in  this  business  he  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  post-master  of  New  Salem — the 
profits  of  the  office  being  too  insignificant  to 
make  his  politics  an  objection. 

Again  thrown  out  of  employment,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln now  turned  his  attention  more  than  ever 
to  books.  He  read  everything  that  fell  in  his 
way  ;  he  kept  himself  well  jjosted  in  national 
politics ;  he  accustomed  himself  to  write  out 
his  views  on  various  topics  of  general  interest, 
though  not  for  the  public  eye  ;  and  realizing 


in  these  exercises  the  importance  of  a  correct 
knowledge  of  English  Grammar,  he  took  up 
that  study  for  the  first  time.  About  this  pe- 
riod he  made  the  acquaintance  of  John  Cal- 
houn, then  living  in  Springfield,  and  afterwards 
notorious  for  his  efforts  to  maintain  Demo- 
cratic supremacy  in  Kansas,  and  as  President 
of  the  Lecompton  Constitutional  Convention. 
Mr.  Calhoun  was  then  County  Surveyor  for 
Sangamon  county.  The  great  influx  of  immi- 
grants before  spoken  of,  and  the  consequent 
active  entry  of  the  government  lands,  gave  him 
more  business  in  the  way  of  establishing  cor- 
ners, and  tracing  boundary  fines,  than  he 
could  well  attend  to.  Conceiving  a  liking  for 
Mr.  Lincoln,  Calhoun  offered  to  depute  to  him 
that  portion  of  the  work  contiguous  to  New 
Salem.  Lincoln  had  no  knowledge  of  survey- 
ing, or  of  the  science  on  which  it  is  based  ; 
but  he  was  now  too  much  absorbed  by  a  de- 
sire for  improvement  to  decline  a  position 
which,  while  securing  a  livelihood,  would  ena- 
ble him  to  increase  his  acquirements.  He 
accepted  the  kind  proffer  of  Air.  Calhoun,  con- 
trived to  procure  a  compass  and  chain,  set 
himself  down  to  the  study  of  Flint  and  Gib- 
son, and  in  a  very  short  time  took  the  field  as 
a  surveyor.  Mr.  Lincoln  never  forgot  or 
ceased  to  be  grateful  for  this  kindness.  Al- 
though he  and  Mr.  Calhoun  were  ever  after- 
wards political  opponents,  he  always  treated 
him  fairly,  placed  the  most  charitable  con- 
struction possible  upon  his  actions,  and  never 
lost  an  opportunity  to  do  a  kindly  act  either 
for  him  or  his  family. 

In  the  summer  of  18-34,  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
again  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature.  He 
had  now  become  acquainted  with  the  people 
throughout  the  county  ;  and  although  they 
had  not  seen  enough  of  him  to  have  learned 
to  appreciate  him  quite  as  highly  as  the  peo- 
ple of  New  Salem  precinct,  nevertheless  he 
was  this  time  elected  by  an  overwhelming 
majority,  and  by  the  largest  vote  cast  for  any 
candidate.  Up  to  this  period,  and,  indeed,  for 
the  two  years  after,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not 
aware  that  he  possessed  any  faculty  for  public 
speaking.  His  acquaintances  knew  him  to  be 
an  admirable  talker,  full  of  original  thought, 
a  close  reasoner,  united  to  a  matchless  gift  of 
illustration  ;  and  from  their  eager  desire  to 
get  him  into  the  Legislature,  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  they  believed  he  would  there 
develop  into  a  forcible  and  ready  debater. 
Whatever  they  had  known  him  to  undertake 
he  had  done  well ;  and  they  therefore  had 
faith  in  his  success,  should  he  enter  this  new 
and  untried  field  of  effort.  In  one  of  his  me- 
morable debates  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  in 
1858,  the  latter,  in  alluding  to  the  early  expe- 
riences in  life,  as  well  as  to  the  later  efforts 
of  his  opponent,  said: — '^Lincoln  is  one  of 
those  peculiar  men  who  perform  with  admirable 


11 


'3MU  everything  they  undertake^  Douglas 
had  known  and  watched  him  closely  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century — watched  him  not  as  an 
admirer  and  friend,  but  as  a  political  oppo- 
nent whom  he  always  dreaded  to  encounter, 
and  whose  failure  in  anything  would  have 
given  him  sincere  gratification, — and  this  was 
the  conclusion  to  which  he  had  been  forced  to 
come  contrary  to  his  wishes.  To  be  able  to 
rise  with  the  occasion,  and  to  never  fall  below 
it,  is  one  of  the  surest  marks  of  genius ;  and 
we  have  the  authority  of  the  man,  who,  of  all 
men  in  the  world,  is  the  least  likely  to  be 
biased  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  favor,  for  saying  that 
he  has  never  failed  to  come  up  to  this  stand- 
ard. The  trait  of  character  to  which  Mr. 
Douglas  thus  bore  reluctant  testimony,  had 
been  early  remarked  by  Lincoln's  friends.  It 
was  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  they  had 
implicit  faith  in  him — that,  although  young 
and  wholly  inexperienced  in  legislation,  they 
cheerfully  confided  their  interests  to  his  keep 


as  the  election  was  over,  he  took  home  with 
him  a  few  books  from  the  law  library  of  Mr. 
Stuart,  and  entered  upon  their  study  in  his 
usually  earnest  way.  When  the  Legislature 
met,  in  the  following  December,  the  law  books 
were  laid  aside,  but  were  resumed  again  imme- 
diately after  the  adjournment.  In  the  autumn 
of  1836,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
and  on  the  15th  day  of  the  following  April, 
having  formed  a  copartnership  with  his  old 
friend  Stuait,  he  removed  to  Springfield,  and 
entered  upon  his  professional  career. 

During  all  this  time — that  is,  from  his  ac- 
ceptance of  the  post  of  deputy-surveyor  under 
Calhoun  until  he  removed  to  Springfield,  in 
1837 — he  supported  himself  by  occasional 
jobs  of  surveying.  Of  course  he  was  com- 
pelled to  live  as  cheaply  as  possible,  to  dress, 
as  he  had  always  done  before  and  always  has 
done  since,  in  plain,  simple  garb,  and  to  study 
at  night  by  the  light  of  the  fire — candles  being 
a  luxury  he  could  not  then  afford.     Yet  he 


ing,  for  in  his  past  life  they  had  the  strongest   was  always  buoyant,  enjoyed  life,  and  never 


possible  guarantee  that  in  this  new  sphere  he 
would  make  himself  "  master  of  the  situa- 
tion," and  fully  equal  to  all  of  its  duties. 

But  in  the  session  of  1834-5,  Mr.  Lincoln 
did  not  attempt  to  make  a  speech.  He  was 
faithful  in  his  attendance,  watchful  of  the  in- 
terests of  his  constituents,  acquired  the  confi- 
dence of  his  fellow-members  as  a  man  of 
sound  judgment  and  patriotic  purposes,  and 
in  this  manner  he  wielded  a  greater  influence 
in  shaping  and  controlling  legislation  than 
many  of  the  noisy  declaimers  and  most  fre- 
quent speakers  of  the  body.  His  constituents 
were  satisfied — so  well  satisfied,  indeed,  that 
they  re-elected  him  in  1836,  again  in  1838,  and 
again  in  1840,  and  would  have  continued  elect- 
ing him,  had  he  desired  it ;  but  by  this  time, 
as  we  shall  presently  see,  his  circumstances 
and  position  were  greatly  changed,  and  there 
were  higher  duties  before  him. 

During  the  canvass  for  the  Legislature,  in 
1834,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  thrown  considerably 
into  the  company  of  Hon.  John  T.  Stuart, 
of  Springfield,  then  a  candidate  for  re-election. 
The  latter  gentleman,  with  his  accustomed 
penetration,  was  not  long  in  discovering  in  his 
retiring  and  unassuming  companion  powers  of 
mind  which,  if  properly  developed,  could  not 
fail  to  confer  distinction  upon  their  possessor. 
To  Lincoln's  great  surprise,  Mr.  Stuart  warmly 
urged  him  to  study  law.  Mr.  Stuart  was  a 
.  gentleman  of  education,  an  able  lawyer,  and 
in  every  respect  one  of  the  foremost  men  of 
the  State.  Advice  of  this  character,  tendered 
by  one  so  competent  to  give  it,  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  gratifying  to  a  young  man  as 
yet  unknown  to  fame  outside  of  New  Salem 
precinct,  and  being  accompanied  by  a  gene- 
>rous  offer  to  loan  him  whatever  books  he  might 
need,  Lincoln  resolved  to  follow  it.     As  soon 


once  fancied  that  his  condition  was  otherwise 
than  an  enviable  one.  His  most  severe  annoy- 
ances grew  out  of  his  rare  gifts  as  a  talker. 
His  friends  would  come  to  see  him  and  to  hear 
him  talk,  and  whenever  a  stranger  sojourned 
for  a  day  or  more  in  New  Salem,  these  friends 
could  not  forego  the  gratification  of  showing 
off  the  fine  points  of  the  village  favorite.  Apro- 
pos to  incidents  of  this  character,  is  the  fol- 
lowing, related  by  Hon.  Richard  Yates,  the  dis- 
tinguished Republican  candidate  for  Governor 
of  Illinois,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  Springfield, 
on  the  7th  of  June  last,  to  a  meeting  composed 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  old  friends  and  neighbors, 
many  of  whom  had  known  him  intimately  at 
the  time  referred  to.     Said  Mr.  Yates : 


"  I  recollect  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  OUl  Abe,  and  I 
have  a  great  niiiid  to  tell  you,  though  I  don't  know  that  I 
ought  to.     ['  Yes,  go  on — go  on.']     It  was  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago.     [A  voice,  'He  was  "  Young 
Abe"  then.']     I  was  down  at  Salem  with  a  friend,  who 
remarked  to  me  one  day, '  I'll  go  over  and  introduce  you 
to  a  fine  young  fellow  we  have  here — a  smart,  genial,  act- 
ive young  fellow,  a/wi  we'^i  be  certain  to  have  a  good 
talk..''    I  consented,  and  he  took  me  down  to  a  collection 
of  four  or  five  houses,  and  looking  over  the  way,  I  saw  a 
young  man  partly  lying  or  resting  on  a  cellar  door,  intently 
engaged  in  readinii.     My  frien(l  took  me  up  and  intro- 
duced me  to  young  Lincoln,  and  I  tell  you,  aa  he  rose  up, 
I  would  not  have  shot  at  him  th-n  for  a  President. 
[Laughter.]    Well,  after  some  pleasant  conversation — 
for  Lincoln,  talked  then  just  as  he  does  wno — we  all 
went  up  to  dinner.    You  know  we  all  lived  in  a  very  plain 
wav  in  those  times.    The  house  wa.s  a  rough  log  house, 
with  a  puncheon  floor  and  clapboard  roof,  and  might  have 
been  builf,  like  Solomon's  Temple,  'without  the  sound 
of  hammer  or  nail,'  for  there  was  no  iron  in  it.     [Laugli- 
ter.]    The  old  lady  whose   house  it  was  soon  jirovided 
us  with  a  dinner,  the  principal  ingreilieut  of  which  was  a 
great  bowl  of  milk,  which  she  handed  to  each.    Somehow 
in  serving  Lincoln  there   was  a  mistake  made,  and  his 
bowl  tipped  up,  and  the  bowl  and  milk  rolled  over  the 
floor.    The  good  old  lady  was  in  deep  distress,  and  ex- 
claimed, '  Oh  dear  me  !    that's  all   my  fixult.'    Lincoln 
picked  up  the  bowl  in  the  best  natured  way  in  the  world, 
remarking  to  her,  'Aunt  Lizzy,  we'll  not  discuss  whose 
fault  it  was;   only  if  it  don't  worry  you,  it  don't  worry 
me.'    [Laughter  and  applause.]    The  old  lady  was  com- 


12 


forted,  and  gave  him  another  bowl  of  milk.    [Renewed 
laughter.] 

'•My  friend  Grocn,  who  introduced  me  to  Lincoln,  told 
me  the  first  time  he  ever  saw  him  he  was  in  the  Sanga- 
mon River,  with  liis  pants  rolled  up  some  five  feet,  more 
or  less  [great  merriment],  trj'ing  to  pilot  a  llat-boat  over 
a  n)ill-dam.  The  boat  had  got  so  full  of  water  that  it  was 
very  ditlicult  to  manage,  and  almost  impossible  to  get  it 
over  the  dam.  Lincoln  finally  contrived  to  get  her  prow 
over  so  tliat  it  projected  a  few  feet,  and  there  it  stood, 
Blithe  then  invented  a  new  way  of  bailing  a  flat-boat. 
He  bored  a  liole  tlirough  the  bottom,  to  let  the  water  run 
out,  and  tlicn  corked  her  up,  and  she  launched  right  over. 
[Great  laughter.]  I  think  the  captain  who prove(l  himself 
so  fitted  to  navigate  the  broad-horn  over  the  dam,  is  no 
doubt  the  man  who  is  to  stand  upon  tlie  deck  of  the  old 
ship,  'The  Constitution,'  and  guide  her  safely  over  the 
billows  and  breakers  that  surround  her."  [Enthusiastic 
and  prolonged  applause.] 


It  has  been  already  stated  that  Lincoln  wa.s 
a  iDorhing  member  of  the  Legislature  at  the 
session  of  1834-5,  but  did  not  attempt  the 
roZe  of  a  speaker.  The  convention  system  had 
been  introduced  into  Illinois  by  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  in  1834;  and  about  that  time  the 
opponents  of  the  administration  began  calling 
themselves  "Whigs,"  and  laying  the  founda- 
tion of  a  party  organization.  Party  spirit 
soon  began  to  run  high,  and  political  discus- 
sions between  leading  men  of  the  two  parties 
were  of  frequent  occurrence.  Lincoln's  first 
speech  was  made  during  the  canvass  for  the 
Legislature  in  183G.  The  candidates  had  met 
at  Springfield  by  appointment  for  the  purpose 
of  a  public  discussion.  A  large  concourse  of  cit- 
izens had  assembled  in  the  court-house  to  listen 
to  the  speeches.  Ninian  W.  Edwards,  then  a 
Whig,  led  off.  He  was  followed  by  Dr.  Early, 
who  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  effective 
debaters  on  the  Democratic  side  in  the  State. 
Early  was  severe  upon  Edwards,  and  the  lat- 
ter vras  desirous  of  making  an  immediate 
rejoinder.  But  Early's  speech  had  aroused 
Lincoln.  His  name  vras  the  next  on  the  pro- 
gramme, and  telling  Edwards  to  be  patient,  he 
arose  to  reply.  Although  embarrassed  at  the 
beginning,  his  exordium  gave  indications  of 
what  was  to  come.  He  began  in  that  slow 
and  deliberate  manner  which  is  still  one  of  his 
marked  characteristics  as  a  speaker,  succinctly 
and  lucidly  stating  the  principles  of  the  two 
parties,  carefully  laying  down  his  premises, 
and  weaving  a  network  of  facts  and  deduc- 
tions around  his  adversary,  from  which  escape 
was  utterly  impossible.  In  less  than  five  min- 
utes all  traces  of  embarrassment  had  disap- 
peared. As  he  warmed  with  his  subject,  his  tall 
form  grew  proudly  erect,  his  gray  eye  burning 
and  flashing  with  an  intensity  never  witnessed 
before,  and  all  his  features  in  full  play — now 
mantling  with  humoi',  as  some  well-atmed 
shaft  of  ridicule  penetrated  and  disclosed  a 
weak  place  in  his  opponent's  argument,  and 
now  glowing  with  an  honest  indignation, 
as  he  laid  bare  the  sophisms  and  misrep- 
resentations with  which  it  abounded.  When 
he    sat    down,    his    reputation    was    made. 


Not  only  had  he  achieved  a  signal  victory 
over  the  acknowledged  champion  of  Demo- 
cracy, but  he  had  placed  himself,  by  a  single 
effort,  in  the  very  front  rank  of  able  and  elo- 
quent debaters.  The  surprise  of  his  audience 
was  only  equalled  by  their  enthusiasm  ;  and 
of  all  the  surprised  people  on  that  memorable 
occasion,  perhaps  no  one  was  more  profound- 
ly astonished  than  Lincoln  himself.  In  the 
election  which  followed,  Early  was  defeated, 
and  with  him  every  Democratic  candidate  on 
the  ticket — a  result  to  which  Lincoln's  mas- 
terly efforts  before  the  people  largely  con- 
tributed. 

In  the  following  December,  Lincoln  took  his 
seat  a  second  time  in  the  Legislature.     It  is 
proper  to  state  here  that  Illinois,  until  of  late 
years,  has  always  been  strongly  Democratic. 
It  gave  its  electoral  vote  to  Jackson  in  1832, 
to  Van  Buren  in  1836  and  in  1840,  to  Polk  in 
1844,  to  Cass  in  1848,  and  to  Pierce  in  1852. 
During  these  twenty  years,  with  the  exception 
of  a  part  of  Gov.  Duncan's  term,  who  was 
elected  as  a  Jackson  man,  but  identified  him- 
self with  the  Whig  party  before  the  close  of 
his  administration,  all  the  State  oflices  and  the 
State  Legislature  were  in  the  possession  of  the 
Democratic  party.     The  whole  responsibility 
of  the  State  government  devolved  upon  that 
party.     The  Whigs  in  the  Legislature,  as  a 
party,  had  no  power  to  inaugurate  a  policy  of 
their  own.     Their  hands  were  effectually  tied. 
The  most  they  could  do  was,  in  cases  in  which 
their  opponents  differed  among  themselves  on 
questions  of  policy,  to  throw  their  votes  on 
the  side  that  seemed  to  them  the  least  mis- 
chievous.    Such  was  the  condition  of  things 
when  Mr.  Lincoln  entered  the  Legislature  in 
1834.     It  had  not  altered  in  any  respect  when 
he  took  his  seat  a  second  time  in  that  body  in 
1836,  nor  indeed  at  any  subsequent  period 
while  he  remained  a  member  of  it.     During 
the   session   of  1836-37,  he  was  recognized 
from  the  start  as  a  leader  of  his  party  on  the, 
floor  of  the  House,  and  made  such  a  reputation; 
for  himself  in  that  capacity,  that  both  in  1838 
and  in  1840,  he  received  the  unanimous  vote 
of  his  party  friends  for  speaker. 

The  details  of  State  legislation  afford  but 
few  matters  of  interest  to  the  general  reader, 
and  for  that  reason  it  is  not  proposed  to  follow 
Mr.  Lincoln  through  this  portion  of  his  career. 
It  is  enough  to  say  on  this  head,  that  he  was 
always  watchful  of  the  public  interests,  labored 
zealously  and  with  great  efficiency  for  what- 
ever he  believed  would  promote  the  welfare  of 
the  State,  and  opposed  with  untiring  energy 
every  measure  that  he  thought  would  have 
an  opposite  tendency.  He  entered  the  body 
in  1834,  the  youngest  member  in  it,  with  a 
fame  that  had  not  extended  beyond  the  limits 
of  his  own  county;  distrustful  of  himself  by 
reason  of  his  lack  of  education;  inexperienced 


13 


in  legislation ;  and  having  no  knowledge  of  the 
arts  and  chicanery  with  which  he  would  have 
to  contend.  He  left  it  in  1840,  by  common 
consent  the  ablest  man  in  it;  the  recognized 
leader  of  his  party  in  the  House  and  in  the 
State  ;  his  name  familiar  as  a  household  word 


from  Cairo  to  Galena,  and  from  the  Wabash 
to  the  Mississippi ;  and  with  a  reputation  for 
honesty  and  integrity  which  not  even  the 
bitterest  of  his  political  opponents  had  the 
hardihood  to  asperse. 


CHAPTER    V. 

Resolves  to  devote  himself  to  his  Profession— The  Presidential  Canvass  of  1540—18  placed  on  the  Electoral  Ticket — 
First  Contests  with  Douglas — The  Law  again— Some  of  Lincoln's  characteristics  as  a  Lawyer — llis  Marriage— The 
Canvass  of  1S44— Is  again  placed  on  the  Klectoral  Ticket — Discussions  with  Calhoun  (of  Kansas  notoriety) — His 
Speeches  on  the  Tariff— Speeches  in  Indiana. 


ON  retiring  from  the  Legislature  it  was  the 
intention  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  devote  him- 
self exclusively  to  the  labors  of  his  profession. 
His  own  convictions  on  the  questions  which 
divided  parties  were  deeplj^-rooted  and  im- 
movable. His  party  in  the  State  was  in  a 
hopeless  minority.  There  seemed  but  small 
opportunity  for  a  man  of  his  views  to  succeed 
in  politics,  while  the  qualities  that  he  had  by 
this  time  developed  insured  both  an  honorable 
fame  and  a  lucrative  income  in  his  profession. 
To  this  he  now  turned  with  all  the  earnestness 
of  his  nature,  and  with  a  firm  resolve  to  win 
laurels  in  it  worth  the  wearing.  But  he  was 
not  permitted  long  to  give  his  exclusive  atten- 
tion to  professional  pursuits.  The  ground- 
swell  of  that  political  revolution  which  in  1840 
carried  the  Whig  party  into  power  in  the  na- 
tional government,  had  no  sooner  been  felt, 
than  there  was  a  universal  desire  awakened 
among  the  Whigs  of  Illinois  to  make  one  more 
effort  to  carry  the  State  over  to  the  Whig 
column.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  assigned  a  place 
on  the  Electoral  ticket — a  position  which  he 
accepted  with  reluctance,  but  which  he  filled 
with  great  zeal  and  ability.  In  that  memora- 
ble canvass  he  repeatedly  met  Mr.  Douglas  on 
the  stump ;  and  it  is  no  disparagement  to  that 
gentleman  to  say,  that  then,  as  in  later  years, 
Mr.  Lincoln  proved  himself  to  be  immeasuraby 
his  superior — superior  in  logic,  in  argument, 
in  resources  as  a  debater,  in  broad  and  com- 
prehensive views  of  national  policy,  in  fairness 
and  in  gentlemanly  courtesy  towards  his  com- 
petitor. 

After  the  election  of  that  year,  Mr.  Lincoln 
returned  to  his  professional  duties.  He  had 
now  obtained  a  reputation  at  the  bar  which 
placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  the  many  able 
and  profound  jurists  of  the  State.  His  servi- 
ces were  eagerly  sought  in  almost  every  case 
of  importance  ;  and  perhaps  no  lawyer  in  Il- 
linois or  any  other  State  has  been  more  uni- 
formly successful  in  the  cases  which  he  has 
undertaken.     It  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of 


Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  lawyer,  that  beholds  himself 
bound  in  honor  and  in  conscience,  having  ac- 
cepted a  fee,  to  thoroughly  master  the  case  of 
his  client.  In  this  regard  he  is  noted  among 
his  professional  brethren  for  the  greatness  of 
his  labors.  He  not  only  studies  the  side  of  his 
client,  but  that  of  his  opponent  also.  Conse- 
quently he  is  never  taken  unawares,  but  has 
ample  resources  for  whatever  turn  the  ingenu- 
ity, skill,  or  learning  of  opposing  counsel  may 
give  to  the  case.  To  this  peculiarity,  in  part,  is 
owing  the  well-known  fact  that  whenever  Mr. 
Lincoln  is  employed  in  connection  with  other 
eminent  counsel,  before  the  conclusion  of  the 
case  the  sole  management  of  it  is  almost  invari- 
ably surrendered  to  him.  Not  by  any  ostenta- 
tious thrusting  of  himself  forward  is  this  position 
obtained,  for  nothing  could  be  more  foreign  to 
Mr.  L  incoln's  manner,  either  at  the  bar  or  else- 
where ;  but  proving  himself  to  be  more  com- 
pletely master  of  the  case  than  hisassociates,  the 
latter  voluntarily  award  the  position  tohira,  and 
even  insist  upon  his  taking  it.  Another  pecu- 
liarity of  ^Ir.  Lincoln  as  a  lawyer,  is  the  fact 
that  he  is  ever  ready  to  give  his  a.ssistance  gra- 
tuitously to  a  poor  client  who  has  justice  and 
right  on  his  side.  lie  has  managed  many  such 
cases  from  considerations  of  a  purelj^  benevo- 
lent character,  which  he  would  not  have  un- 
dertaken for  a  fee.  More  than  this,  in  cases 
of  peculiar  hardship,  he  has  been  known, 
again  and  again,  after  throwing  all  of  his  power 
and  ability  as  a  lawyer  into  the  management 
of  the  case,  without  charge,  or  any  other  re- 
ward than  the  gratification  of  a  noble  nature, 
on  bidding  his  client  adieu,  and  when  receiv- 
ing his  cordial  thanks  and  the  warm  grasp  of 
his  hand,  to  slip  into  his  palm  a  live  or  a  ten 
dollar  bill,  bidding  him  to  say  nothing  about 
it,  but  to  take  heart  and  be  hopeful.  Those 
who  know  him  intimately  will  not  be  surprised 
at  this  relation,  because  it  harmonizes  well 
with  his  whole  character ;  but  so  careful  has 
he  always  been  to  conceal  his  charitable  deeds 
that  the  knowledge  of  such  actions  on  his 


14 


part  is  confined  to  those  who  have  come  into 
possession  of  it  without  his  agency. 

In  November,  1842,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary  Todd,  daughter  of 
Hon.  Robert  S.  Todd,  of  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky. The  fruits  of  this  union  are  three  sons 
now  living,  and  one  dead.  The  eldest,  now  in 
his  seventeenth  year,  is  a  student  at  Exeter 
Academy,  New  Hampshire,  preparatory  to 
entering  Harvard  University.  The  other  sons 
are  intelligent  promising  lads.  Mrs.  Lincoln  is 
a  lady  of  charming  presence,  of  superior  in- 
telligence, of  accomplished  manners,  and,  in 
every  respect  well  fitted  to  adorn  the  position 
in  which  the  election  of  her  husband  to  the 
Presidency  will  place  her.  The  courtesies  and 
hospitalities  of  the  White  House  have  never 
been  more  appropriately  and  gracefully  dis- 
pensed than  they  will  be  during  the  adminis- 
tration of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

From  the  retirement  of  his  professional  av- 
ocations, Mr.  Lincoln  was  again  called  by  his 
party  to  perform  the  labors  of  an  elector  for 
the  State  at  large  in  the  canvass  of  1 844.  He 
entered  upon  the  duties  with  his  accustomed 
zeal,  and  with  even  more  than  his  accustomed 
abilitj^  John  Calhoun  (of  Kansas  notorie- 
ty), then  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  deba- 
ters on  the  Democratic  side  in  the  State,  was 
an  elector  at  large  on  the  ticket  of  his  party. 
The  meetings  between  these  gentlemen  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  State  will  not  soon  be  for- 
gotten by  those  who  witnessed  them.  Cal- 
houn exerted  himself  as  he  never  had  done 
before.  Not  even  Douglas,  in  his  palmiest 
days,  ever  bore  aloft  the  Democratic  standard 


more  gallantly,  or  brought  more  strength  of 
intellect  to  the  defense  of  its  principles.  But 
it  was  only  the  endeavor  of  a  pigmy  against 
an  intellectual  giant.  His  arguments  were 
torn  to  tatters  by  Lincoln,  his  premises  were 
left  without  foundation,  and  he  had  only  the 
one  resource  of  the  demagogue  left — to  raise 
the  party  cry,  and  to  urge  the  fiiithful  to  a 
union  of  effort.  The  issues  of  that  day  made 
the  discussion  of  the  tariff  a  prominent  part  of 
every  political  speech.  It  is  believed  by  the 
most  intelligent  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  hearers,  that 
the  doctrine  of  a  tariff  for  the  protection  of 
home  industry  has  never  received,  in  this 
country,  a  more  exhaustive  exposition,  and  a 
more  triumphant  vindication  than  in  his 
speeches  during  that  canvass.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  the  newspaper  enterprise  of  Illi- 
nois, at  that  day,  did  not  embrace  among  its 
objects  verbatim  reports  of  public  speeches. 
There  is  no  trace  of  these  efforts  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln remaining,  save  in  the  recollection  ©f 
those  who  were  present  at  their  delivery. 

Before  the  close  of  the  campaign,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln accepted  the  earnest  and  oft-repeated  in- 
vitation of  leading  whigs  in  Indiana  to  visit 
that  State.  The  result  of  the  August  election 
had  demonstrated  that  Mr.  Clay  could  not 
carry  Illinois,  while  Indiana  was  considered 
debatable  ground.  The  efforts  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
— continuing  through  several  weeks,  and  un- 
til the  day  of  election — gave  unbounded  satis- 
faction to  his  political  friends  in  Indiana,  thou- 
sands of  whom  flocked  to  hear  him  at  every 
appointment. 


CHAPTER    VI 


IN   CONGRESS. 


Dnanimously  nominated  for  Congress — His  opponent,  Peter  Cartwright — Unprecedented  Majority — Enters  Congn-ess — 
A  Brilliant  Array  of  Great  Names — A  Consistent  Whig  Record — The  Mexican  War — Lincoln  votes  for  all  the  Sup- 
ply Bills— Proofs  from  the  Record — The  Position  of  the  Whig  Party  in  relation  to  the  Mexican  War — Ashmua's 
Resolution — Present  Leaders  of  the  Democracy  on  the  Mexican  War — Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 


IN  1846  Mr.  Lincoln  received  the  unani- 
mous nomination  for  Congress  by  the  Whig 
Convention  for  the  Springfield  District.  In 
1844  the  district  had  given  a  majority  of  914 
to  Mr.  Clay,  and  the  Democracy  expected, 
in  the  Congressional  election  of  1846,  to  great- 
ly lessen,  if  not  entirely  overcome,  this  major- 
,  ity.  With  the  hope  of  securing  the  latter 
result,  they  put  in  nomination  Rev.  Peter 
Cartwright,  the  famous  Methodist  preacher,  a 
man  of  great  popularity  with  the  people  gen- 
erally, and  especially  popular  with  his  own 
denomination,  which  embraced  a  very  large 
and  influential  portion  of  the  population 
of  the   district.     Mr.   Lincoln   spoke   in   the 


principal  towns  in  the  district,  on  the  political 
issues  of  the  day.  His  opponent  did  not 
meet  him  in  discussion,  but  chose  his  own  pe- 
culiar way  of  electioneering.  The  canvass 
resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  by  a 
majority  of  1,511 — a  majority  unprecedented 
in  the  distiict,  and  conclusive  as  to  the  esti- 
mation in  which  he  was  held  by  his  immedi- 
ate neighbors. 

Mr.  Lincoln  took  his  seat  in  the  National 
House  of  Representatives  on  the  7th  of  De- 
cember, 1847 — the  beginning  of  the  first  ses- 
sion of  the  Thirtieth  Congress.  He  met  there 
such  men  as  John  Quincy  Adams,  George 
Ashman,    Jacob   Collamer,   John    M.  Bottfi, 


15 


Washington  Hunt,  J.  R.  Ingersoll,  T.  Butlei* 
King,  Henry  W.  Hilliard,  George  P.  Marsh, 
Charles  S.  Morehead,  Meredith  P.  Gentry, 
James  Pollock,  Caleb  B.  Smith,  Truman 
Smith,  Robert  C.  Schenck,  Alexander  H.  Ste- 
phens, John  B.  Thompson,  Robert  Toombs, 
Samuel  F.  Vinton,  and  other  prominent  Whig 
leaders ;  and  although  a  new  man  in  Congress, 
and  comparatively  young,  he  at  once  took  a 
prominent  position  among  this  brilliant  array 
of  distinguished  men.  Throughout  his  Con- 
gressional career,  his  record  is  that  of  a  con- 
sistent Whig.  On  all  the  issues  that  divided 
parties  which  were  brought  before  Congress 
for  action,  his  name  will  be  found  recorded  on 
the  same  side  on  which  Clay  and  Webster  had 
so  often  before  recorded  theirs. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  by  his  political 
opponents  in  regard  to  his  action  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Mexican  War ;  and  in  the  canvass 
of  1858  with  Mr,  Douglas,  that  gentleman 
and  his  newspaper  organs  made  a  very  disin- 
genuous but  characteristic  attempt  to  fasten 
upon  Mr.  Lincoln  a  charge  of  having  voted 
against  supplies  for  the  American  Army  in 
Mexico.  The  charge  was  without  foundation 
in  fact,  and  utterly  untrue  in  every  particular. 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  took  his  seat  in  Con- 
gress, Gen.  Scott  had  been  nearly  three  months 
in  possession  of  the  city  of  Mexico.  All  the 
great  battles  of  that  war  had  been  fought,  and 
the  negotiations  which  resulted  in  the  treaty 
of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  on  the  2d  of  February, 
1848,  had  progressed  very  far  towards  a  fa- 
vorable conclusion.  The  American  Army, 
however,  was  still  in  Mexico;  and  various 
supply  measures,  resolutions  of  thanks,  acts 
for  extra  pay,  and  for  the  relief  of  the  widows 
and  orphans  of  officers  and  soldiers  who  had 
fallen  in  the  war,  were  brought  before  the 
Thirtieth  Congress,  and  passed.  Mr.  Lincoln 
voted  in  favor  of  every  measure  of  this  kind 
which  came  lefore  Congress.  A  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  Journals  and  the  Congressional 
Glohe  discloses  the  fact  that  fourteen  Acts 
and  eight  Joint  Resolutions  of  the  character 
referred  to,  were  passed  by  this  Congress.  Of 
these,  three  Acts  and  two  Joint  Resolutions 
were  passed  under  a  call  for  the  Ayes  and 
Nays ;  the  remainder  without.  We  have  the 
assurance  of  those  who  served  in  Congress 
with  Mr.  Lincoln— both  his  political  friends 
and  opponents — that  he  voted  in  favor  of  all 
the  latter ;  while  as  to  the  former,  the  House 
Journal  contains  the  proof 

The  first  of  these  Acts  which  passed  the 
House  by  Ayes  and  Naj-s,  will  be  found  in 
U.  S.  Statutes  at  Large,  page  215,  chap.  23, 
being  "  An  Act  further  to  supply  deficiencies 
in  the  Appropriations  for  the  Service  of  the 
Fiscal  Year  ending  the  thirtieth  of  June, 
eighteen  hundred  and  forty-eight;"  and  it  ap- 
propriates, among  other  items,  various  sums 


distinctly  for  the  benefit  of  volunteers  in  the 
Mexican  War,  amounting  to  17,508,939  74. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  name  is  recorded  in  the  afiirma- 
tive.  (See  House  Journal,  1st  Scss.  30th 
Congress,  pages  520-1.) 

The  next  Act,  will  be  found  in  the  Statutes 
at  Large,  page  217,  chap.  2(i,  being  "An  Act 
to  authorize  a  loan  not  to  exceed  the  sum  of 
sixteen  millions  of  dollars."  This  act  was 
passed  to  provide  money  to  meet  appropria- 
tions in  general,  including  those  for  the  Mexi- 
can War,  and  would  not  have  been  necessary 
but  for  that  war.  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  stands 
recorded  in  the  affirmative.  (See  House  Jour- 
nal, pages  426-7.) 

The  last  Act  of  this  character  passed  by 
Ayes  and  Nays,  will  be  found  in  Stat,  at  Large, 
page  247,  chap.  104,  being  "An  Act  to  amend 
an  Act,  entitled  '  An  Act  supplemental  to  An 
Act  entitled  An  Actproviding  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  existing  war  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  and  for 
other  purposes.'"  This  Act,  among  other 
things,  provided  for  giving  three  months  extra 
pay  to  officers,  non-commissioned  officers,  mu- 
sicians and  privates,  engaged  in  the  Mexican 
war,  and  to  their  relations,  in  case  of  their 
dying  in  the  service.  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  is 
recorded  in  favor  of  this  Act.  (See  House 
Journal,  page  768.) 

The  two  Joint  Resolutions  spoken  of  will  be 
found  in  St:it.  at  Large,  pages  333  and  834. 
They  were  expressive  of  the  thanks  of  Con- 
gress to  Major-General  Winfield  Scott  and 
Major-General  Zachary  Taylor,  and  to  the 
troops  under  their  command  respectively,  for 
their  distinguished  gallantry  and  good  conduct 
in  the  Mexican  campaign  of  1847.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's name  is  recorded  in  fevor  of  both  reso- 
lutions.    (See  House  Journal,  pages  365-6.) 

These  are  the  only  instances  that  occurred 
while  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  Congress  in  which 
supplies,  extra  pay,  or  thanks  were  voted  or 
pioposed,  under  a  call  of  the  Ayes  and  Nays, 
for  the  American  Army  in  Mexico;  and  in 
each  case  he  is  recorded  in  the  affirmative. 

Mr.  Lincoln  held,  in  common  with  the  entire 
Whig  party  of  that  day,  that  the  war  with 
Mexico  was  unnecessarily  and  unconstitution- 
ally begun;  and  all  who  desire  to  know  the 
reasons  on  which  the  Whig  party  based  this 
opinion,  will  find  them  most  ably  set  forth  in 
a  speech  delivered  in  Congress  by  Mr.  Lincoln, 
Jan.  12,  1848;  and  which  may  be  found  in 
the  Appendix  to  the  Congressional  Glohe,  1st 
session,  30th  Congress,  beginning  at  page  93. 
Previous  to  the  delivery  of  that  speech,  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  intentionally  refrained  from  taking 
exceptions  publicly  to  what  he  honestly 
believed  to  be  the  unjustifiable  conduct  of 
President  Polk  in  precipitating  the  country 
into  a  war  with  Mexico.  The  following  ex- 
tract from  the  speech  contains   the  reasons 


16 


which,  in  his  judgment,  demanded  a  departure 
from  this  line  of  policy: 

"  'Wlion  the  war  bosran,  it  was  my  ojiinion  that  all  those 
who,  because  of  knowing  too  little,  or  because  of  know- 
ing too  much,  could  not  conscientiously  ajjprove  the  con- 
duct of  the  President  (in  the  beginning  of  it),  should, 
nevertheless,  as  good  citizens  and  patriots,  remain  silent 
on  thatpnint,  at  least  till  the  war  should  be  ended.  Some 
leading  Democrats,  including  ex-I'resulent  Van  Buren, 
have  taken  this  same  view,  as  I  underst'ud  them;  and  I 
adhered  to  it,  and  acted  upon  it,  until  since  1  took  my 
scat  here ;  and  1  think  I  should  still  adhere  to  it,  were  it 
not  that  the  President  and  his  friends  will  not  allow  it  to 
be  so.  Besides  the  continual  effort  of  the  President  to 
argue  every  silent  vote  given  for  supplies  into  an  indorse- 
ment of  the. iustice  and  wisdom  of  his  conduct;  besides 
that  singularly  candid  paragraph  in  his  late  message,  in 
which  he  tells  us  that  Congress,  with  great  unanimity 
(only  two  in  the  Senate  and  fourteen  in  the  House  dis- 
senting) had  declared  that  'by  tlie  act  of  the  Eepublic  of 
Mexico  a  state  of  war  exists  between  that  Governmeat 
and  the  Ignited  States,'  when  the  same  journals  that  in- 
formed him  of  this,  also  informed  him  that,  when  that  de- 
claration stood  disconnected  from  the  question  of  supplies, 
sixty -seven  in  the  House,  and  not  fourteen,  merely,  voted 
against  it;  besides  this  open  attempt  to  prove  by  telling 
the  trvth,  what  he  could  not  prove  by  telling  the  tvhole 
truth, — demanding  of  all  who  will  not  submit  to  be  misre- 
presented, injustice  to  themselves,  to  spe  .k  out;  besides 
all  this,  one  of  my  colleagues  [Mr  Itichardsou],  at  a  very 
early  dny  in  the  session,  brought  in  a  set  of  resolutions, 
e"spressly  indorsing  the  original  justice  of  the  war  on  the 
part  of  the  President.  Upon  these  resolutions,  when  they 
shall  be  put  on  their  pa.<<sage,  I  shall  be  compelUd  to 
vote ;  so  that  I  cannot  be  silent  if  I  would." 

As  before  observed,  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not 
stand  alone  in  holding  these  views.  They  were 
held  substantially  by  the  entire  Whig  party, 
both  at  the  North  and  the  South  ;  as  well  as 
by  Mr.  Calhoun  and  those  Southern  men  who 
at  that  time  had  adopted  his  peculiar  political 
opinions.  The  following,  from  the  House 
Journal,  1st  session  30th  Congress,  pages  183-4 
(January  3d,  1848),  shows  the  position  of  the 
Whig  party  on  the  subject : 

"  In  pursuance  of  previous  notice,  Mr.  John  W.  Hous- 
ton asked,  and  obtained  leave,  and  introduced  a  joint  re- 
solution of  tlianks  to  Major-General  Taylor;  and  which 
was  read  a  iirst  and  second  time  ;  when 

"Mr.  Schenck  moved  that  the  said  resolution  be  refer- 
red to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs. 

"Mr.  Henly  moved  to  amend  the  said  motion  of  Mr. 
Schenck  by  adding  thereto  the  following:  AVith  instruc- 
tions to  insert  In  the  said  resolution  the  following:  'En- 
gaged as  they  were,  in  defending  the  rights  a7id  honor 
oftJie  country.' 

"  Mr.  Ashmun  moved  to  amend  the  said  proposed  in- 
structions by  adding  at  the  end  of  the  same:  ' //i  a  war 
unnedfssarily  and  vncortstifutionally  Vegun,  Vy  the 
President  of  the  United  Staten.^ 

"  And  the  question  was  put.  Will  the  House  agree  to 
the  amendment  offered  by  Mr.  Ashmun  ? 

"  And  decided  in  the  atiirmati  ve — Yeas  82 ;  Nays  81. 

"  The  yeas  and  nays  being  desired  by  one-fifth  of  the 
members  present. 

"Those  who  voted  in  the  affirmative  are — 

"Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  George  Ashuuin,  Daniel  M. 
Barringer,  Washington  Barrow,  Hiram  Belcher,  John  M. 
Botts,  Jasper  E.  Brady,  Aylett  Bnckner,  PJchard  S. 
Canby,  Thomas  L.  Clingman,  William  M.  Cocke,  Jacob 
Collainer,  >!armon  S.  Conger,  Robert  B.  Cranston,  John 
Crowell,  John  H.  Crozier,  John  Dickey,  James  Dixon, 
Kicha'd  S.  Donnell,  William  Duer,  Daniel  Duncan,  Gar- 
nett  Dtmcan,  George  G.  Dunn,  George  N.  Eckert,  Thomas 
O.  Edwards,  Alexander  Evans,  Nathan  Evans,  David 
Fisher,  Andrew  S.  Fulton,  John  Gayle,  Meredith  P.  Gen- 
try, Joshua  R  Giddings,  William  L.  Goggin,  Joseph 
Grinncll,  Artemas  Hale,  Nathan  K.  Hall,  James  G. 
Hampton,  William  T.  Haskell,  William  Henry,  John  W. 
Houston,  Samuel  D.  Hubbard,  Charles  Hudson,  Alexander 
Irvin,  Orlando  Kellogg.  T.  Butler  King,  Daniel  P.  King, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Abraham  E.  McHvane,    George   P. 


Marsh,  Dudley  Msrvin,  .Joseph  Mullin,  Henry  Nes,  Wil- 
liam A.  Newell, William  B.  Prestin,  Harvey  Putnam,  Gid- 
eon Keynolds,  Julius  Rockwell.  John  A.  Rockwell,  Joseph 
M.  Root,  David  Rumsey,  Jr.,  Daniel  B.  St.  John,  Robert 
C.  Schenck,  Augustine  H.  Shepperd,EliakimSherrill,  John 
I.  Slingerland,  Caleb  B.  Smith,  Truman  Smith,  Alexander 
H.  Stephens,  Andrew  Stewart,  John  Strohm,  Peter  H. 
Sylvester,  Bannou  G.  Thibodeaux,  John  L.  Taylor,  Patrick 
W.  Tompkins,  Richard  W.  Thompson,  John  B.  Thompson, 
Robert  Toombs,  Ami'S  Tuck,  John  Van  Dyke,  Samuel  F. 
Vinton,  Cornelius  Warren,  James  Wilson." 

It  will  be  seen,  by  inspection  of  the  fore- 
going names,  that  some  of  the  most  distin- 
guished leaders  of  the  Democracy  of  the 
present  day  voted  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  will 
also  be  seen  that,  while  the  resolution  cen- 
sured the  President  for  the  manner  in  which 
he  began  the  war,  it  also  conveyed  the  thanks 
of  Congress  to  the  oflScers  and  soldiers  of  the 
American  army,  for  their  gallant  defense  of 
the  rights  and  honor  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  reasons  for  the  opinion  ex- 
pressed by  this  vote,  as  subsequently  stated 
in  his  speech  on  the  war,  were,  briefly,  that 
the  President  had  sent  Gen.  Taylor  into  an 
inhabited  part  of  the  country  belonging  to 
Mexico,  and  thereby  had  provoked  the  first 
act  of  hostility ;  that  the  place  at  which  these 
hostilities  were  provoked,  being  the  country 
bordering  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
was  inhabited  by  native  Mexicans,  born 
there  under  the  Mexican  government,  and 
had  never  submitted  to,  nor  been  conquered 
by,  Texas  or  the  United  States,  nor  trans- 
ferred to  either  by  treaty ;  that  although 
Texas  claimed  the  Rio  Grande  as  her  bound- 
ary, Mexico  had  never  recognized  it,  the 
people  on  the  ground  had  never  recognized 
it,  and  neither  Texas  nor  the  United  States 
had  ever  enforced  it;  that  there  was  a  broad 
desert  between  that  and  the  country  over 
which  Texas  had  actual  control ;  that  the 
country  where  hostilities  commenced  having 
once  belonged  to  Mexico,  must  remain  so, 
until  it  was  somehow  legally  transferred, 
which  had  never  been  done.  Mr.  Lincoln 
thought  the  act  of  sending  an  armed  force 
among  the  Mexicans  was  iinnecessary,  inas- 
much as  Mexico  was  in  no  way  molesting  or 
menacing  the  United  States  or  the  people 
thereof,  and  that  it  was  unconstitutional^  be- 
cause the  power  of  levying  war  was  vested  in 
Congress,  and  not  in  the  President.  He 
thought  the  principal  motive  for  the  act  was 
to  divert  public  attention  from  the  surrender, 
by  the  Democratic  party,  of  "Fifty-four 
forty,  or  fight,"  to  Great  Britain,  on  the 
Oregon  boundary  question.  He  also,  doubt- 
less, believed  that  it  was  an  intentional  bid 
of  the  Democratic  party  for  Southern  sup- 
port, inasmuch  as  the  conquest  of  all  or  any 
portion  of  Mexico  would  be  hailed  by  the 
South  as  an  assurance  of  the  extension  of 
slavery,  and  an  increase  of  the  political 
power,  in  the  federal  govei'nment,  of  the  slave- 
holding  interest. 


17 


Ihe  adoption  of  Ashmun's  amendment  was 
not  the  first  occasion  the  "Whig  part}^, 
through  its  representatives  in  Congress,  nad 
condemned  the  act  of  the  President  in  in- 
volyiag  the  country  in  a  war  with  Mexico.  On 
the  11th  of  May,  1846,  as  will  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  House  Journal,  pp.  792-3, 
the  following  action  was  bad  : 

"On  notion  to  amend  a  bill  for  ;in  act  providing;  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  existing  war  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Eepublic  of  Mexico,  by  inserting  the  following 
preamble: 

'"Whereas,  by  the  act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  a 
state  of  war  exists  between  that  government  and  the 
United  States— 

"  It  was  decided  in  the  affirmative — yeas  123,  noes  CT." 

The  Northern  Whigs  voted  solidly  in  the 

negative,  as  well  as  the  following  Southern 

members : 

"  Daniel  M.  Barringer  (N.  C  ),  Thomas  11.  Bayly  (Va.), 
Henry  Bedinger  (Va.),  Armisted  Burt  (8.  C),  John  11. 
Croz'er  (Tenri.),  Garrett  Davis  (Ky.),  Alfred  Dockery 
(N.  C),  Henry  Grider  (,Ky.),  Henry  W.  Hilliard  (Ala.), 
Isaac  E.  Holmes  (3.  C),  John  W.  Houston  (Del.),  Ed- 
mund W.  Hubard  (Va.),  Robert  T.  M.  Hunter  (Va.),  T. 
Butler  King  (6a.),  John  H.  Mcllenrv  (Ky.),  John  S. 
Pendleton  (Va.),  It.  Barnwell  Khett  (S.  C),  James  A. 
Seddon  (Va  ).  Ale':ander  D  Sims  (S.  C),  Richard  F.  Simp- 
son (3.  C),  Alexander  H.  Stephens  (Ga.),  Robert  Toombs 
(Ga.),  Joseph  A.  Woodward  (3.  C),  William  L.  Yancey 
(Ala.)." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  above  list  includes  a 
number  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  leaders 
of  modern  Democracy.  Like  Mr.  Lincoln, 
they  believed  the  war  to  have  been  "unneces- 
sarily and  unconstitutionally  begun  ;"  but  like 
him,  they  also  discriminated  between  the 
honor  of  the  country  and  the  gallant  ser- 
vices of  the  American  troops  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  act  of  the  President  on  the 
other.  This  point  was  brought  out  very  clearly 
by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  a  speech  delivered  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  July  27th,  1848,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  The  declaration  that  we  have  always  opposed  the  war 
is  true  or  false  accordingly  as  we  may  understand  the 
term,  '  opposing  the  war.'  If  to  say,  '  the  war  was  un- 
necessarily and  unconstitutionally  commenced  by  the 
President,'  be  opiio.sing  the  war,  then  the  Whigs  have 
very  generally  opposed  it.  Whenever  they  have  spoken 
at  all,  they  have  said  this ;  and  they  have  said  it  oi  what 
has  appeared  good  reason  to  them.  The  marching  an 
army  into  the  midst  of  a  peaceful  Mexican  settlement, 
frightening  the  inhabitants  away,  leaving  their  growing 
crops  and  other  property  to  destruction,  to  you  may  ap- 
pear a  perfectly  amiable,  peaceful,  unprovoking  proced- 
ure ;  but  it  does  not  ajipcar  so  to  us.  So  to  call  .such  an 
act,  to  us  appears  no  other  thin  a  naked,  impudent  absurd- 
ity, and  we  speak  of  it  accordingly.  But  if,  when  the  war 
had  begun,  and  had  become  the  cause  of  the  country,  the 
giving  of  our  money  and  our  blood,  in  common  with 
yours,  was  support  of  the  war,  then  it  is  not  true  that  we 
have  always  opposed  the  war.  With  few  individual  ex- 
ceptions, you  have  constantly  had  our  votes  here  for  all  the 
necessary  supplies.  And,  more  than  this,  you  have  had 
the  services,  the  blood,  and  the  lives  of  our  political 
brethren  in  every  trial,  and  on  every  field.  The  beard- 
less boy  and  the  mature  man — the  humble  and  the  distin- 
guished— you  have  had  them.  Through  sulfering  and 
death — by  disease  and  in  battle — they  have  endured,  and 
fought,  and  fallen  with  you.  Clay  and  Webster  each 
gave  a  son,  never  to  be  returned.  From  the  State  of  my 
own  residence,  besides  other  worthy  but  less-known 
Whig  names,  we  .sent  Mai-shall,  Morrison,  Baker,  and  Har- 
din; they  all  fought,  and  one  fell;  and  in  the  fall  of  that 
one  we  lost  our  best  Whig  man.  Nor  were  the  Whigs 
few  in  number,  or  laggard  in  the  day  of  danger.     In  that 


fearful,  bloody,  breathless  struggle  at  Buena  Vista,  where 
each  man's  hard  task  was  to  beat  back  five  foes,  or  die 
himself,  of  the  five  high  officers  who  perished,  four  were 
Whigs. 

"  In  speaking  of  this,  I  mean  no  odious  comparison  be- 
tween the  lion-hearted  Whigs  and  Democrats  who  fought 
there.  On  other  occasions,  and  auiong  the  lower  oflicers 
and  privates  on  that  occasion,  I  doubt  not  the  proportion 
was  different.  I  wish  to  do  justice  to  all.  I  think  of  all 
those  biave  men  as  Americans,  in  whose  proud  feme,  as 
an  American,  I  too  have  a  share.  Many  of  them,  Whigs 
and  Democrats,  are  my  constituents  and  personal  friends; 
and  I  thank  them — more  than  tliank  them— one  and  all, 
for  the  high,  imperLshable  honor  they  have  conferred  on 
our  oonmion  State. 

"  But  the  distinction  between  the  cause  of  the  Presi- 
dent inheginning  the  war,  and  the  cause  of  the  country 
after  it  was  begun.  Is  a  distinction  which  you  can  not 
perceive.  To  you  tbe  President  and  the  country  seem  to 
be  all  one.  You  are  interested  to  see  no  distinction  be- 
tween them,  and  I  venture  to  suggest  that  po>i>iibly  your 
interest  blinds  you  a  little.  We  s.'c  the  distinction,  as  we 
thiuk,  clearly  enough;  and  our  friends  who  have  fought 
in  the  war  "have  no  difficulty  in  seeing  it  also.  What 
those  who  have  fallen  would  say,  were  they  alive  and 
here,  of  course  we  can  never  know;  but  with  those  who 
have  returned  there  is  no  difficulty.  Colonel  Haskell  and 
Major  Gaines,  members  here,  both  fought  in  the  war,  and 
one  of  them  underwent  extraordi  nary  i)erils  and  hardships ; 
still  they,  like  all  other  Whigs  here,  vote  on  the  record 
that  the  war  was  imnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally 
comm.-nced  by  the  President.  And  even  General  Taylor 
himself,  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all,  has  declared 
that,  as  a  citizen,  and  particularly  as  a  soldier,  it  is  suffi- 
cient for  him  to  know  that  his  country  is  at  war  with 
a  foreign  nation,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  bring  it  to  a 
speedy  and  honorable  termination  by  the  most  vigorous 
and  energetic  operation.s,  without  inquiring  about  its 
justice,  or  anything  else  connected  with  it." 

The  Thirtieth  Congress  was  made  famous 
by  the  introduction  and  discussion  of  the  Wil- 
mot  Proviso.  Mr.  Lincoln  supported  this 
measure  from  first  to  last,  being  then  as  now, 
uncompromisingly  opposed  to  the  extension 
of  slavery  into  free  territory.  He  is  also  on 
record  in  favor  of  the  improvement  of  rivers 
and  harbors,  and  the  appropriation  of  public 
lands  in  aid  of  great  and  important  public  im- 
provements. The  subject  of  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  was  also  before  the  Thir- 
tieth Congress.  Mr.  Lincoln  prepared  and 
submitted  a  bill  embodying  his  views  on  that 
subject,  which  is  here  presented  to  the  reader. 
The  bill  is  entitled,  "  A  Bill  to  abolish  Slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  by  consent  of  the 
fiee  white  people  of  said  District,  and  with 
compensation  to  owners,"  and  may  be  found 
in  the  Coi^gressional  Globe,  vol.  20,  page  212, 
as  follows : 

"Sec.  1.  Beit  enacted  Inj  He  Senate  and  Iloitse  of 
Hepresmitatives  of  the  United  States  in  Congress  iissern- 
h'ed.  That  no  person  not  now  within  the  District  of 
Columbia  nor  now  owned  by  any  jierson  or  persons  now 
resident  within  it,  nor  hereafter  born  within  it,  shall  ever 
be  held  in  slavery  within  .said  District. 

"  §  2.  That  no  person  now  within  said  District,  or  now 
owned  by  any  person  or  persons  now  resident  within  the 
same,  or  hereafter  born  within  it,  shall  ever  be  held  in 
slavery  without  the  limits  of  said  District :  Provi'ted, 
That  officers  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
being  citizens  of  the  slaveholding  States,  coming  into 
said  District  on  jiublic  business,  and  remaining  only  so 
long  as  may  be  reasonably  necessary  for  that  object,  may 
be  attended  into  and  out  of  said  District,  and  while  there, 
by  the  necessary  servants  of  themselves  and  their  families, 
without  their  right  to  hold  such  servants  in  service  beiag 
thereby  impaired. 

'  §  3.  That  all  children  born  of  slave  mothers,  within  said 
District,  on  or  af  er  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year 


18 


of  sur  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty,  shall  be 
free  ;  bnt  shall  be  reasonably  supported  and  educated  by 
the  respective  owners  of  their  mothers,  or  by  their  heirs 
or  represent;itives,  and  shall  owe  reasonable  service,  as 
apprentices,  to  such  owners,  heirs  and  reprcsentoUves 

until  they  respectively  arrive  at  the  age  of years 

when  they  shall  be  entirely  free.  And  the  municipai 
authorities  of  Washington  and  Georgetown,  within  their 
respective  jurisdictional  limits,  are  hereby  empowered 
and  required  to  make  all  suitable  and  necessjirvpro\-isions 
lor  enforcing  obedience  to  this  section,  on  the  part  of  both 
masters  and  apprentices. 

"  §  4.  That  all  persons  now  within  said  District  lawfully 
held  as  slaves,  or  now  owned  by  any  person  or  persons 
now  resident  within  said  District,  shall  remain  such  at  the 
will  of  their  respective  owners,  their  heirs  and  legal  re- 
presentotives:  Pro^tided,  That  any  such  owner,  "or  his 
legal  representatives,  may  at  any  time  receive  from  the 
treasury  of  the  United  States  the  full  value  of  his  or  her 
slave  of  the  class  in  this  section  mentioned;  upon  which 
such  slave  shall  be  forthwith  and  forever  free:  And  pro- 
vided furt/ur.  That  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
shall  be  a  board  for  determining  the  value  of  such  .slaves 
as  their  owners  may  de^ire  to  emancipate  under  this 
section,  and  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  hold  a  .session  tVir 
the  purpose  on  the  first  Monday  of  each  calendar  month  ; 
to  receive  all  applications,  and,  on  sali.sfactory  evidence 
in  each  case  that  the  person  presented  for  valuation  is 
a  slave,  and  of  the  class  in  this  section  mentioned,  and  is 
owned  by  the  applicant,  shall  value  such  slave  at  his  or 
her  full  cash  value,  and  give  to  the  applicant  an  order  on 
the  treasury  for  the  amount,  and  also  to  such  slaves  a 
certificate  of  freedom. 

"  §  6.  That  the  municipal  authorities  of  Washington  and 
Georgetown,  within  their  respective  jurisdictional  limits 
are  hereby  empowered  and  required  to  i)ro^ide  active  and 
efficient  means  to  arrest  and  deliver  up  to  their  owners 
all  fugitive  slaves  escajdng  into  said  District. 

"§  6.  That  the  election  officers  within  said  Di-striet  of 
Columbia  are  hereby  empowered  and  required  to  open 
polls  at  all  the  usual  places  of  holding  elections  on  the 
first  Monday  of  April  ne.xt,  and  receive  the  vote  of  every 
free  white  male  citizen  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
having  resided  within  said  District  for  the  period  of  one 
year  or  more  next  preceding  the  time  of  such  voting  for 
or  against  this  act,  to  proceed  in  taking  said  votes  in  all 
respects  not  herein  specified,  as  at  elections  under  the 
municipal  laws,  and  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  to 
transmit  correct  statements  of  the  votes  so  cast  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  President  to  canvass  said  votes  immediately,  and  if  a 
majority  of  them  be  found  to  be  for  this  act.  to' forthwith 
issue  his  proclamation  giving  notice  of  the  fact ;  and  this 
act  shall  only  be  in  full  force  and  effect  on  and  after  the 
day  of  such  proclamation. 

"  §  7.  That  involuntary  servitude  for  the  puni.shment  of 
crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted, 
shall  in  nowise  be  prohibited  by  this  act 

"  §  8.  That  for  all  the  purposes  of  this  act.  the  iuris- 
dictional  limits  of  Washington  are  extended  to  all  parts  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  not  now  included  within  the 
present  limits  of  Georgetown." 

In  submitting  this  proposition,  Mr.  Lincoln 
staled  that  it  had  the  aoproval  of  a  number 


of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  District.  J»mong 
them,  it  is  understood,  were  Messrs.  Gales 
and  Seaton,  oi  \h.&  National  Jntelligemer,  the 
latter  of  whom  was  then  Mayor  of  the  city  of 
Washington. 

These  views  were  not  new  with  }Ir.  Lin- 
coln. As  early  as  in  1837,  while  a  member 
of  the  State  Legislature,  he  had  given  them 
expression  in  the  following  protest  which  was 
entered  on  the  House  Journal : 

„^     ,  "  March  8d,lS37. 

The  following  protest  was  presented  to  the  House, 
which  was  read  and  ordered  to  be  spread' on  the  journals, 
to  wi  t : 

'•Resolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic  .slavery  hav- 
ing passed  both  branches  of  the  General  Assembly  at  its 
present  session,  the  undersigned  hereby  protest  against 
the  i)assage  of  the  same. 

"  They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  founded 
on  both  injustice  and  bad  policy  ;  but  that  the  promulga- 
tion of  abolition  doctrines  tends  rather  to  increase  than 
abate  its  eviKs. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  Stateshas 
no  piiwi'r,  under  the  Constitution,  to  interfere  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  ditt'erent  St;jtes. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  Stateshas 
the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  aboli.sh  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia;  but  that  that  power  ought  nut 
to  be  e.xercised  unless  at  the  request  of  the  people  of  said 
District. 

"The  difference  between  these  opinions  and  those  con- 
tained in  the  said  resolutions,  is  their  reason  for  entering 
this  protest.  DAN  STONE, 

A.  LINCOLN, 
Representatives  from  the  cminty  of  Sangamon.''' 

That  his  opinions  on  this  subject  have 
undergone  no  change  is  evident  fiom  his 
reply  to  an  interrogatory  of  Mr.  Douglas  at 
the  Freeport  debate,  in  1S58,  as  to  whether 
he  (Lincoln)  did  not  stand  pledged  to  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia. Mr.  Lincoln  said  he  was  not  so  pledged, 
and  added : 

"In  relation  to  that,  I  have  my  mind  very  distinctly 
made  up.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  see  slavery 
abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  I  believe  that 
Congress  posses-^es  the  constitutional  power  to  abolish  it. 
Yet  as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  should  not,  wi'.h  my 
present  views,  be  in  fiivor  of  endeavoring  to  abolish  sla- 
very in  the  District  of  Columbia,  unless  it  would  be  upon 
these  conditions:  First,  that  the  abolition  should  be 
gradual;  second,  that  it  should  be  on  a  vote  of  the 
majority  of  qualified  voters  in  the  District;  and  third, 
that  compensation  should  be  made  to  unwilling  owners. 
With  the.se  three  conditions,  I  confess  I  would  be  exceed- 
ingly glad  to  see  Congress  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis'rict 
of  Columbia,  and,in  the  language  of  Henry  Clay,  'sweep 
from  our  Capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our  nation.' " 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Keason  for  Eetiring  from  Congress— The  Canvass  of  1852— Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise— Again  in  Poli- 
tics—Encounters with  Douglas— Retreat  of  the  "Little  Giant"— An  Opposition  Legislature— Election  of  U.  S. 
Senator— M.'.gnanimous  conduct  of  Mr.  Lincoln— Organization  of  the  Republican  Party  in  Illinois— Speech  of  1857. 


MB.  Lincoln  was  not  a  candidate  for  re- 
election to  Congress.  This  M-as  deter- 
mined upon  and  publicly  declared  before  he 
went  to  "Washington,  in  accordance  with  an 
understanding  among  leading  Whigs  of  the 
district,  and  by  virtue  of  which  Col.  John  J. 


Hardin  and  Col.  E.  D.  Baker  had  each  pre- 
viously served  a  single  term  from  the  same 
district  After  the  adjournment  he  spoke  .sev- 
eral times,  by  invitation,  in  advocacy  of  the 
election  of  Gen.  Taylor,  both  in  Maryland  and 
Massachusetts ;  and  on  his  return  to  Illinois, 


19 


he  mnvassed  his  own  district  very  thoroughlj^, 
whi(;h  was  followed  by  a  majority  in  the  dis- 
trict, of  over  1500  for  the  Whig  electoral 
ticket. 

After  the  Presidential  election  of  1848,  Mr. 
Lincoln  applied  himself  more  closely  than 
ever  to  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1852 
he  was  again  placed  by  his  Whig  friends  upon 
the  Scott  electoral  ticket ;  but  his  professional 
engagements,  together  with  the  utter  hopeless- 
ness of  the  cause  in  Illinois,  deterred  him 
from  making  as  active  and  thorough  a  can- 
vass of  the  State  as  he  had  done  on  former 
like  occasions.  In  1854  his  profession  had 
almost  superseded  all  thought  of  politics.  He 
had  abandoned  all  political  aspirations,  con- 
tent, as  it  seemed,  with  the  honors  which  his  j 
profession  brought  him.  The  country  was 
once  more  free  from  excitement.  The  agita- 
tion which  grew  out  of  the  acquisition  of  ter- 
ritory from  Mexico  had  been  quieted  by  the 
compromise  measures  of  1850.  Each  of  the 
political  parties  had  expressed  a  determina- 
tion, in  national  convention,  to  abide  by  that 
settlement  of  the  slavery  question.  The  status 
of  all  our  unsettled  territory  was  now  fixed 
by  law,  so  far  as  this  subject  was  concerned. 
Sectional  jealousies  were  obliterated,  sectional 
strife  healed,  and  concord  and  repose  marked 
our  enviable  condition.  From  this  peaceful  and 
happy  state  the  country  was  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  aroused  as  "by  the  sound  of  a 
fire  bell  at  night,"  by  the  introduction  of  a  bill 
into  the  United  States  Senate  for  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise.  What  followed  is 
painfully  fresh  in  the  public  recollection.  The 
country  was  convulsed  as  it  never  had  been 
before,  and  wise  men  clearly  foresaw  the  evils 
that  have  since  come  upon  us,  and  from  which 
we  have  not  yet  recovered. 

The  repeal  of  this  time-honored  compact 
aroused  Mr.  Lincoln  as  he  never  had  been  be- 
fore. He  at  once  perceived  the  conflicts  that 
must  grow  out  of  it ;  the  angry  strife  between 
the  North  and  the  South,  and  the  struggles  in 
Kansas.  He  saw  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill 
a  wide  departure  from  the  mode  pursued  by 
the  fathers  of  dealing  with  slavery — that  while 
the  policy  of  the  latter  M-as  based  upon  a  re- 
cognition of  its  wrongfulness,  the  Nebraska 
Bill  proceeded  upon  the  opposite  hypothesis, 
that  it  is  not  wrong.  He  saw,  and  he  foretold, 
before  the  Supreme  Court  had  decided  the 
Dred  Scott  case,  that  the  judiciary  would  not 
be  slow  to  indorse  the  doctrine  of  Congress 
and  the  President,  and  that  thus  each  of  the 
co-ordinate  branches  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment would  stand  committed  against  the  early 
belief  that  slavery  is  wrong,  as  well  as  against 
the  early  policy  based  upon  that  belief.  Not 
only  did  he  regard  the  Nebraska  Bill,  there- 
fore, as  inaugurating  a  complete  revolution  in 
the  policy  of  the  government,  but  as  artfully 


designed  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  revo- 
lution in  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  country, 
preparatorj'  to  the  establishment  of  slavery  in 
the  free  States  as  well  as  in  the  Territories, 
and  the  revival  of  the  African  slave  trade. 

On  his  return  to  Illinois,  after  the  passage 
of  his  KansasNtbraska  bill,  Mr.  Douglas  saw 
the  mischief  which  that  measure  had  wrought 
in  the  ranks  of  his  party  in  his  own  State,  and 
forthwith  undertook  to  repair  it.  A  Legisla- 
ture was  to  be  elected  in  November  of  that 
year,  on  which  would  devolve  the  duty  of 
electing  a  successor  to  Gen.  Shields  in  the 
U.  S.  Senate.  It  was  a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance to  Mr.  Douglas  to  secure  the  re-elec- 
tion of  Gen.  Shields,  as  his  defeat  would  be 
tantamount  to  a  censure  upon  himself.  He 
commenced  his  labors  in  Chicago,  where  he 
met  with  any  thing  but  a  flattering  reception 
from  a  constituency  whom  he  had  deceived, 
and  whose  moral  sense  he  had  grossly  out- 
raged. Thence  he  went  to  Springfield,  the 
capital  of  the  State.  He  arrived  there  at  the 
time  the  State  Agricultural  Society  was  hold- 
ing its  annual  fair.  The  occasion  had  brought 
together  a  vast  multitude  of  people  from  all 
parts  of  the  State.  Hundreds  of  politicians 
had  also  assembled,  among  whom  were  many 
of  the  ablest  men  of  the  State.  Much  time 
was  devoted  to  political  speaking ;  but  the 
great  event  of  the  occasion  was  the  debate  be- 
tween Lincoln  and  Douglas.  It  had  been 
nearly  fourteen  years  since  these  gentlemen 
had  been  pitted  against  each  other  in  a  pub- 
lic discussion.  In  the  canvass  of  1840,  Lin- 
coln had  proved  himself  more  than  a  match 
for  Douglas  in  debate.  But  during  most  of 
the  intervening  years,  the  latter  had  occupied 
a  position  either  in  the  National  House  of 
Representatives  or  in  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate, where  he  had  made  a  national  reputation, 
had  become  the  recognized  leader  of  his  party, 
and  had  grown  more  self-confident  and  arro- 
gant than  ever ;  while  the  former,  his  party 
being  in  a  minority  in  the  State,  had  been 
in  public  life  for  only  a  brief  period,  had  de- 
voted himself  almost  exclusively  to  the  labors 
of  his  profession,  and  had  no  claims  to  a  na- 
tional reputation.  Douglas,  through  his  news- 
paper organs  and  street  trumpeters,  a  class  to 
whom  no  man  is  more  greatly  indebted  for  his 
reputation,  had  contrived  to  create  an  impres- 
sion in  the  minds  of  many  people  that  he  had 
grown  to  propoitions  too  gigantic  to  render  it 
safe  for  so  unpretending  and  modest  a  man  as 
Lincoln  to  encounter  him.  Douglas  entered 
upon  the  debate  in  this  spirit.  He  displayed 
all  of  his  most  offensive  peculiarities.  He  was 
arrogant,  insolent,  defiant,  and  throughout  fiis 
speech  maintained  the  air  of  one  who  had 
already  conquered.  On  the  next  day,  Lincoln 
replied.  No  report  was  made  of  either  of  the 
speeches ;  but  the  following  extract  from  the 


20 


Springfield  Journal  o(  the  following  day  (Oct. 
6th),  will  show  how  Lincoln  acquitted  himself, 
and  how  greatly  Douglas  had  over-estimated 
his  own  abilities,  and  underrated  those  of  his 
antagonist : 

"  Mr.  Linooln  cornrnonced  at  two  o'elook,  P.  M.,  and 
spoke  three  hours  and  ten  minutes.  We  propose  to  ^ve 
our  views  and  those  of  many  Northerners  and  many 
Southerners  upon  the  debate.  "We  intend  to  give  it  as 
fairly  as  we  can.  Those  who  know  Mr.  Lincoln,  know 
him  to  be  a  conscientious  and  honest  man,  who  makes  no 
assertions  that  he  does  not  know  to  be  true.  This  anti- 
Nebraska  speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  the  profoumJest,  in 
our  opinion,  that  he  has  made  in  his  whole  life.  He  felt 
upon  his  soul,  the  truths  burn  which  he  uttered,  and  all 
present  felt  that  he  was  true  to  his  own  soul.  His  feel- 
ings once  or  twice  swelled  within  and  came  near  stilling 
utterance,  and  particularly  so,  when  he  s.aid  that  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  taught  us  that  'all  men  are 
created  equal ' — that  by  the  laws  of  nature  and  nature's 
God,  all  men  were  free— that  the  Nebraska  Law  chained 
men,  and  that  there  was  as  much  difference  between  the 
glorious  truths  of  the  immortal  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence and  the  Nebraska  Bill,  as  there  was  between  God 
and  Mammon.  These  are  his  own  words.  They  were 
spoken  with  emphasis,  feeling  and  true  eloquence;  elo- 
quent because  true,  and  because  he  felt,  and  felt  deeply, 
what  he  said.  We  only  wish  others  all  over  the  State  had 
seen  him  while  uttering  those  truths  only  as  Lincoln  can 
utter  a  felt  and  deeply-felt  truth.  He  quivered  with  feel- 
ing and  emotion.  The  whole  house  was  as  still  as  death. 
He  attacked  the  Nebraska  Bill  with  unusual  warmth  and 
energy,  and  all  felt  that  a  man  of  strength  was  its  enemy, 
and  that  he  intended  to  blast  it  if  he  could,  by  strong  and 
manly  efforts.  He  was  most  successful,  and  the  house  ap- 
proved the  gloi'ious  triumph  of  truth  by  loud  and  contin- 
ued huzzas.  Women  waved  their  white  handkerchiefs  in 
token  of  woman's  silent  but  heartfelt  assent.  Douglas 
felt  the  sting.  He  frequently  interrupted  Mr.  Lincoln. 
His  friends  felt  that  he  was  crushed  by  Lincoln's  power- 
ful argument,  manly  logic,  and  illustrations  from  nature 
around  us.  The  Nebraska  Bill  was  shivered,  and,  like  a 
tree  of  the  forest,  was  torn  and  rent  a.sunder  by  the  hot 
bolts  of  truth.  Mr.  Lincoln  exhibited  Douglas  in  all  the 
attitudes  he  conld  be  placed,  in  a  friendly  debate.  He 
exhibited  the  Bill  in  all  its  aspects,  to  show  its  hum- 
buggery  and  falsehoods  ;  and  when  thus  torn  to  rags,  cut 
into  slips,  held  up  to  the  gaze  of  the  vast  crowd,  a  kind  of 
scorn  and  mockery  was  visible  upon  the  face  of  the  crowd, 
and  upon  the  lips  of  the  most  eloquent  speaker.  It  was 
a  proud  day  for  Lincoln.    His  friends  will  never  forget  it. 

"  Nowhere,  in  the  whole  speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  he 
more  grand  than  at  the  conclusion.  He  said  this  people 
were  degenerating  from  the  sires  of  the  Revolution — from 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Monroe,  as  it  ap- 
peared to  him ;  yet  he  called  upon  the  spirit  of  the  brave, 
valiant  free  sons  of  all  and  every  clime,  to  def.  nd  free- 
dom and  the  institutions  that  our  fathers  and  Washington 
gave  us ;  and  that  now  was  the  time  to  show  to  the  world 
that  we  were  not  rolling  back  towards  despotism.  At  the 
conclusion  of  this  speech,  every  man  and  child  felt  that  it 
was  unanswerable;  that  no  human  power  could  over- 
throw it  or  trample  it  umler  foot.  The  long  and  repeated 
applause  evinced  the  feelings  of  the  crowd,  an<l  gave 
token  of  universal  assent  to  Lincoln's  whole  argument; 
and  every  mind  present  did  homage  to  the  man  n  ho  took 
captive  the  heart  and  broke  like  a  sun  over  the  under- 
standing." 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  an 
account  of  the  same  debate,  given  by  the 
Chicago  Press  and  Tribune  : 

"It  would  be  imposssible.  in  these  limits,  to  give  an  idea 
of  the  strength- of  Mr.  Lincoln's  arirument.  We  deemed  it 
by  far  the  ablest  effort  of  the  campaign — from  whatever 
source.  The  occn.sion  was  a  great  one,  and  the  speaker 
was  every  way  equal  to  it.  The  effect  produced  on  the 
listeners  was  magnetic.  No  one  who  wjis  present  will 
ever  forget  the  power  and  vehemence  of  the  following 
passage : 

" 'My  distingtiished  friend  says  it  is  an  in=ult  to  the 
emigrants  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  suppose  they  are 
not  able  t©  govern  themselves.    We  must  not  slur  over 


an  argument  of  tliis  kind  bec.iusc  it  happens  to  tickle  the 
ear.  It  mu.st  be  met  and  answered.  I  admit  thst  the 
emigrant  to  Kan.sas  and  Nebraska  is  competent  to  govern 
himnelf.  \>\\t,-  the  speaker  rising  to  his  full  height,  '/ 
rfe?iy  his  riff/it  to  govern  any  other  person  without 
THAT  person's  conbbnt.'  The  applause  which  f(  llowed 
this  triumphant  refutation  of  a  cunning  falsehood,  was 
but  an  earnest  of  the  victory  at  the  polls  which  followed 
just  one  month  from  that  day. 

"When  Mr.  Lincoln  had  concluded,  Mr.  Douglas  strode 
hastily  to  the  stand.  As  usual,  he  employed  ten  minutes 
in  tellin"  how  grossly  he  had  been  abused.  Eeco  lecting 
himself,  ne  added,  'though  in  a  perfectly  courteous  man- 
ner'—abused  in  a  perfectly  courteous  manner !  He  then 
devoted  half  an  hour  to  showing  that  it  was  indispensably 
necessary  to  California  emigrants,  Sante  Fe  traders  and 
others,  to  have  organic  acts  provided  for  the  Territories 
of  Kansas  and  Nebraska — thai  being  precisely  the  point 
which  nobody  disputed.  Having  established  this  premise 
to  his  satisfaction,  Mr.  Douglas  launched  forth  into  an 
argument  wholly  apart  from  the  positions  taken  by  Mr. 
Lincoln.  He  had  about  half  finished  at  si.x  o'clock,  when 
an  adjournment  to  tta  was  effected.  The  speaker  insisted 
strenuously  upon  h's  right  to  resume  in  the  evening,  but 
we  believe  the  .second  part  of  that  speech  has  not  been 
delivered  to  this  day.'' 

From  Springfield  the  parties  went  to  Peoria, 
where  they  again  discussed  the  Kansas-Ne- 
braska Bill.  On  this  occasion  the  triumph  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  even  more  marked  than  at 
Springfield.  His  speech  occupied  over  three 
hours  in  the  delivery ;  and  so  masterly  was  it 
in  argument,  so  crushing  in  its  sarcasm,  so 
compact  in  its  logic,  that  Mr.  Douglas  did  not 
even  undertake  to  reply  to  the  points  raised 
by  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  was  a  thorough  and  un- 
answerable exposition  of  all  the  sophisms  and 
plausible  pretences  with  which  Douglas  up  to 
that  time  had  invested  the  Kansns-Nebraska 
Bill,  and  he  stood  before  the  audience  in  the 
attitude  of  a  mountebank,  whose  tricks  are 
clearly  seen  through  by  those  whom  he 
attempts  to  deceive.  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  on 
this  occasion  was  reported.  As  a  specimen  of 
the  manner  in  which  he  drove  Douglas  to  the 
wall  on  every  point,  take  the  following  ex- 
tract. Douglas  had  urged  that  the  question 
of  slavery  in  a  Territory  concerned  only  the 
people  of  the  Territory — that  it  could  be  of  no 
interest  to  the  people  of  Illinois  whether  sla- 
very was  "  voted  up  or  voted  down  "  in  Kan- 
sas. To  this  Lincoln  replied  that,  in  the  first 
place,  the  whole  nation  is  interested  that  the 
best  use  shall  be  made  of  all  the  Territories, 
and  that  this  end  can  alene  be  reached  by 
preserving  them  as  homes  for  free  white  peo- 
ple. His  other  point  was  the  following,  and 
certainly  a  more  conclusive  and  unanswerable 
argument  has  never  been  uttered  : 

"By  the  constitution,  each  State  has  two  senators— each 
has  a  number  of  representatives,  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  its  people — and  each  has  a  number  of  Presi- 
dential electors,  equal  to  the  whole  number  of  its  senators 
and  representatives  together.  But  in  ascertaining  the 
number  of  the  people,"  for  the  purpose,  five  slaves  are 
counted  as  being  equal  to  three  whiti-s.  The  slaves  do  not 
vote  ;  they  are  only  counted  and  so  used  as  to  swell  the 
influence  of  the  white  people's  votes.  The  practical  effect 
of  this  is  more  aptly  shown  by  a  comparison  of  the  States 
of  South  Carolina  and  Maine.  South  Carolina  has  .six 
representatives,  and  so  has  M.aine ;  South  Carolina  has 
eight  Presidential  electors,  and  so  has  Maine.    This  is 


■  ^aV.TaV    ■•    —  •  ^a'Va^A^ 


21 


precise  equality  so  far ;  and  of  course  they  are  equal  in 
senators  each  having  two.  Thus,  in  the  control  of  the 
government,  the  two  States  are  equals  precisely.  But 
how  are  they  in  the  number  of  their  white  people?  Maine 
has  5ril,813,  while  South  Carolin.i  has  274,56V.  Maine  has 
twice  as  many  as  South  Carolina,  an<l  32,679  over.  Thus 
each  white  man  in  South  Carolina  is  more  than  the  double 
of  any  man  in  Maine.  This  is  all  because  South  Carolina, 
besides  her  free  people,  has  8tv4,9S4  slaves.  The  South 
Carolinian  has  precisely  the  same  advantage  over  the 
white  man  in  every  other  free  State,  as  well  as  in  Maine. 
He  is  more  than  the  double  of  any  one  of  us.  The  same 
advantagf,  but  not  to  the  same  extent,  is  held  by  all  the 
citizens  of  the  slave  States,  over  those  of  the  free  ;  and  it 
is  an  absolute  truth,  without  an  exception,  that  there  is 
no  voter  in  any  slave  State,  but  who  has  more  legal  power 
in  the  government,  than  any  voter  in  any  free  State. 
There  is  no  instance  of  exact  equality  ;  and  the  dis- 
advantage is  against  us  the  whole  chapter  through.  This 
principle,  in  the  aggregate,  gives  the  slave  St;ites  in  the 
present  Congress,  twenty  additional  representatives — be- 
ing seven  more  than  the  whole  majority  by  which  they 
passed  the  Nebraska  Bill. 

"Now  all  this  is  manifestly  unfair ;  yet  Idonotmention 
it  to  complain  of  it,  in  i-o  far  as  it  is  already  settled.  It  Is 
in  the  Constitution,  and  I  do  not,  for  that  cause,  or  any 
other  cause,  propose  to  destroy,  or  alter,  or  disregard  the 
Constitution  ;  I  stand  to  it  fairly,  fully,  and  firmly.  But 
when  I  am  told  that  I  must  leave  it  altogether  to  other 
people  to  say  whether  new  partners  are  to  be  bred  up  and 
brought  into  the  firm  on  the  same  degrading  terms 
against  me,  I  respectfully  demur.  I  insist,  that  whether 
I  shall  be  a  whole  man,  or  only  the  half  of  one,  in  com- 
parison with  others,  is  a  question  in  which  I  am  somewhat 
concerned ;  and  one  which  no  •ther  man  can  have  a 
'sacred  right'  of  deciding  for  me.  It'  I  am  wrong  in 
this — if  it  really  be  a  'sacred  right'  of  self  government, 
in  the  man  wlio  shall  go  to  Nebraska,  to  decide  whether 
he  will  be  the  equal  of  me  or  the  double  of  me,  then  after 
he  shall  have  exercised  that  right,  and  thereby  shall  have 
reduced  me  to  a  still  smaller  fraction  of  a  man  than  I 
already  am,  I  should  like  for  some  gentleman  deeply 
skilled  in  the  mysteries  of  '  sacred  rights,'  to  provide 
himself  with  a  microscope,  and  peep  about  and  find  out  if 
he  can,  what  has  become  of  ■)«// 'sacred  rights'?  They 
will  surely  be  too  small  for  detection  with  the  naked 
eye. 

"  Finally,  I  insist  that  if  there  is  anything  which  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  wJiole  people  to  never  entrust  to  any 
hands  but  their  own,  that  thing  is  the  preservation  anil 
perpetuity  of  their  own  liberties  and  institutions.  And 
if  they  iiall  think,  as  I  do,  that  the  extension  of  slavery 
endangers  them,  more  than  any  or  all  other  causes,  how 
recreant  to  themselves,  if  they  submit  the  question,  and 
with  it  the  fate  of  their  country,  to  a  mere  handful  of  men, 
bent  only  on  temporary  self  inte.rest!  If  this  question  oi' 
slavery  extension  w'ore  an  insignificant  one — one  having 
nopower  t )  do  harm — it  might  be  shuffled  aside  in  this 
way.  But  being,  as  it  is.  the  ereat  Behemoth  of  danger, 
shall  the  strong  gripe  of  the  nation  be  loosened  upon  iTim' 
to  entrust  him  to  tlie  bands  of  such  feeble  keepers?"         ' 

It  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  purpose  and  desire  to 
continue  the  discussion  with  Mr.  Douglas  du- 
ring the  remainder  of  the  canvass,  but  that 
gentleman  shrank  from  a  repetition  of  the  dis- 
comfiture he  had  suffered  at  Springfield  and 
Peoria.  He  gave  Mr.  Lincoln  no  further  op- 
portunity of  meeting  him.  But  notwithstand- 
ing his  antagonist  withdrew  from  the  unequal 
contest,  Mr.  Lincoln  continued  in  the  field. 
He  pressed  the  slavery  issue  which  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  had  forced  upon 
the  country,  upon  the  people  of  central  and 
southern  Illinois,  who  were  largely  made  up 
of  emigrants  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Vir- 
ginia and  North  Carolina,  with  all  the  powers 
of  his  mind.  He  felt  the  force  of  the  moral 
causes  that  must  influence  the  final  settlement 
of  the  question,  and  he  never  failed  to  appeal 
to  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  people  in  aid  of 


the  argument  drawn  from  political  sources, 
and  to  illuminate  his  theme  with  the  lofty  in- 
spirations of  true  eloquence  pleading  for  the 
rights  of  humanity. 

A  revolution  swept  the  State.  For  the  first 
time  since  the  organization  of  the  Democratic 
party,  a  majority  of  those  elected  to  the  Leg- 
islature of  Illinois  were  opposed  to  the  Demo- 
cratic administration  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment. "While  Mr.  Lincoln  was  engaged  in  the 
canvass  in  other  parts  of  the  State,  his  friends 
in  Sangamon  County,  without  his  consent  or 
knowledge,  presented  his  name  for  the  Legis- 
lature, and  he  was  elected  to  that  body  by  a 
handsome  majority.  It  was  not  in  his  power 
to  serve,  and  he  was  compelled  to  decline  the 
well-meant  honor  conferred  upon  him  by  the 
people  of  Sangamon.  This  was  Lincoln's  first 
triumph  over  Douglas  in  an  appeal  to  the 
people  of  the  State;  his  second  triumph  oc- 
curred two  years  later  in  the  election  of  the 
entire  Republican  State  ticket;  and  his  third 
was  in  the  memorable  Senatorial  contest  of 
1858,  when  his  majority  over  Douglas  exceed- 
ed four  thousand  votes. 

The  Opposition  in  the  Legislature  was  made 
up  of  Whigs,  Americans,  and  Anti-Nebraska 
Democrats.  The  Republican  party  was  not 
organized  in  Illinois  until  1856 — two  years 
later.  These  three  divisions  of  the  opposition 
had  no  common  platform,  except  that  of  hos- 
tility to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise and  to  the  revolutionary  principles  of 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill.  The  Old  Whigs 
were  still  looking  for  a  revival  of  their  own 
organization — the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats 
had  not  abandoned  the  hope  that  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the  principles 
of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  would  yet  be  re- 
pudiated by  the  Democratic  party.  When 
the  election  of  a  United  States  Senator  came 
on,  the  latter  declined  going  into  caucus  with 
the  Opposition.  They  had  never  acted  politi- 
cally with  the  Whigs  as  a  party.  To  preserve 
their  identity,  to  be  able  to  exert  a  due  influ- 
ence on  the  Democratic  party,  and  to  force  it 
into  the  abandonment  of  its  new  and  danger- 
ous dogmas,  they  believed  sound  policy  re- 
quired them  to  nominate  and  adhere  to  one 
of  their  own  number.  The  remainder  of  the 
Opposition  went  into  caucus  and  nominated 
Mr.  Lincoln.  When  the  two  houses  met  in 
joint  session,  February  8,  1855,  the  Whigs 
presented  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln ; 
the  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  that  of  Lyman 
Trumbull ;  the  Democrats  that  of  Gen.  James 
Shields.  The  whole  number  of  votes  was  99, 
of  which  50  were  necessary  to  a  choice.  On 
the  fii-st  ballot  the  vote  stood,  for  Abraham 
Lincoln  45 ;  James  Shields  41 ;  for  Lyman 
Trumbull  5 ;  scattering  8.  On  the  seventh 
ballot  the  Democrats  dropped  Gen.  Shields, 
and  voted  for  Joel  A.  Matteson,  then  holding 


22 


the  oflBce  of  Governor  of  the  State.  Gov. 
Matteson  had  never  openly  taken  ground  for 
or  against  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill.  He  was 
a  shrewd  man,  and  had  long  been  arranging 
and  planning  for  the  emergency  which  had 
now  occurred.  On  the  seventh  ballot  (first 
for  him)  he  received  44  votes,  two  higher 
than  Shields  had  at  any  time  received ;  on 
the  eighth  he  received  46  votes,  and  on  the 
ninth  47,  or  within  three  of  an  election.  On 
that  ballot,  for  the  second  time,  the  joint  vote  of 
Lincoln  and  Trumbull  was  just  sufficient  to 
elect,  if  thrown,  for  a  single  person,  viz.  for 
Trumbull  35  ;  for  Lincoln  15  ;  and  this,  too, 
was  the  first  time  that  Trumbull's  vote  had 
exceeded  Lincoln's.  Perceiving  the  danger 
of  electing  Matteson  unless  his  own  and 
Trumbull's  strength  could  be  united  at  once, 
Lincoln  went  to  his  friends  and  begged  them 
to  cast  their  united  vote  on  the  next  ballot  for 
Trumbull.  They  yielded  to  his  urgent  entrea- 
ties, and  on  the  next  ballot  Mr.  Trumbull 
received  51  votes,  and  was  declared  elected. 

The  scene  will  long  be  remembered  by  those 
who  witnessed  it.  The  excitement  was  most 
intense.  The  Democrats  had  never  doubted 
their  ability  to  elect  some  non-committal  man 
like  Matteson.  They  did  not  believe  the  Oppo- 
sition could  be  brought  to  unite.  They  were 
not  prepared  for  such  a  display  of  magnanimity 
as  that  exhibited  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  result 
filled  them  with  astonishment  as  well  as 
chagrin.  On  the  other  hand,  the  old  political 
associates  of  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  that  he  was  en- 
titled to  the  place,  and  that  all  portions  of  the 
Opposition  ought  to  have  united  in  awarding 
it  to  him.  Strong  men  wept  at  the  necessity 
which  required  them  to  withdraw  their  votes 
from  him.  He  alone  was  calm  and  unmoved, 
in  the  midst  of  all  these  different  phases  of 
excitement. 

Zealous  efforts  have  since  been  made  to 
awaken  unkind  feelings  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  against  Senator  Trumbull  and  those 
Anti-Nebraska  Democrats  who  brought  him 
forward  as  a  candidate ;  but  all  to  no  purpose. 
The  relations  subsisting  between  him  and 
them  were  of  the  most  frank  and  cordial  char- 
acter at  the  time,  and  such  they  have  been 
ever  since.  He  justly  ranks  them  among  his 
best  friends ;  and  surely  none  have  gone  or 
can  go  bej-^ond  them  in  manifestation  of  zeal 
in  his  behalf,  both  as  a  candidate  for  the  Sen- 
ate in  1858,  and  for  the  Presidency  in  1860. 

In  June,  1856,  a  convention  of  those  op- 
posed to  the  Democratic  party,  was  held  at 
Bloomington,  Illinois,  at  which  time  the  Re- 
publican party  was  organized  in  that  State,  a 
Platform  adopted,  a  State  Ticket  nominated, 
and  delegates  appointed  to  the  National  Re- 
publican Convention  to  meet  at  Philadelphia. 
Mr.  Lincoln  bore  a  leading  part  in  securing 
-these  results.     Perhaps  no  other  man  exerted 


so  wide  and  salutary  an  influence  in  harmoni- 
zing differences,  in  softening  and  obliterating 
prejudices,  and  bringing  into  a  cordial  union 
those  who  for  years  had  been  bitterly  hostile 
to  each  other.  His  speech  before  that  Con- 
vention will  ever  be  regarded  by  many  of 
those  who  heard  it,  as  the  greatest  effort  of 
his  life.  Never  was  an  audience  more  com- 
pletely electrified  by  human  eloquence.  Again 
and  again,  during  the  progress  of  its  delivery, 
they  sprang  to  their  feet  and  upon  the 
benches,  and  testified  by  long-continued  shouts 
and  the  waving  of  hats,  how  deeply  the 
speaker  had  wrought  upon  their  minds  and 
hearts.  It  fused  the  mass  of  hitherto  incon- 
gruous elements  into  perfect  homogeneity,  and 
and  from  that  day  to  the  present,  they  have 
worked  together  in  harmonious  and  fraternal 
union.  It  kindled  also  an  enthusiasm  in  the 
bosoms  of  those  who  heard  it,  which  they  car- 
ried home  with  them,  and  with  which  they 
imbued  their  neighbors,  and  by  which  the 
Republican  party  of  Illinois,  in  the  first  year 
of  its  existence,  was  carried  triumphantly  into 
power. 

At  the  National  Republican  Convention  of 
that  year,  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  was  presented 
by  the  Western  delegates  for  nomination  for 
the  Vice-Presidency.  Although,  had  his  own 
wishes  been  consulted  in  the  matter,  he  would 
not  have  consented  to  this  use  of  his  name,  it 
was  nevertheless  a  well-deserved  compliment, 
as  well  as  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  his 
reputation  had  now  become  national.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  vote  on  the  informal  ballot  was  110 
—Mr.  Dayton's,  259. 

During  the  recess  of  Congress  in  1857,  Mr. 
Douglas  made  a  speech  at  Springfield  in  fur- 
ther vindication  of  his  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill, 
known  as  his  "  Grand  Jury  Speech,"  from  the 
fact  that  he  was  invited  to  deliver  it  by  the 
Grand  Jury  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court  for 
Southern  Illinois.  In  that  speech,  he  first  pro- 
mulgated the  docrine  that  the  framers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  in  asserting  that 
"all  men  are  created  equal,"  simply  meant  to 
say  that  "British  subjects  on  this  continent 
were  equal  to  British  subjects  born  and  re- 
siding in  Great  Britain."  Mr.  Lincoln,  by  invi- 
tation of  a  large  number  of  his  fellow  citizens, 
replied  to  Douglas.  When  he  came  to  that 
part  of  the  speech  which  containedhis  (Doug- 
las's) theory  of  the  Declaration,  as  above  given, 
Mr.  Lincoln  said : — 

"  My  good  friends,  read  that  carefully  over,  some  leisure 
hour,  and  ponder  well  upon  it.  See  what  a  mere  wreck — 
a  mangled  ruin — it  makes  of  our  glorious  Declaration  ! 

"  They  were  speaking  of  British  subjects  on  this  conti- 
nent being  equal  to  British  subjects  born  and  residing  in 
Great  Britain  !  Why,  according  to  this,  not  only  negroes, 
but  white  people  outside  of  G-reat  Britain  and  America, 
were  not  spoken  of  in  that  instrument.  The  English,  Irish, 
and  Scotch,  along  with  white  Americans,  were  Included, 
to  be  sure,  but  the  French,  Germans,  and  other  white 
people  of  the  world  are  all  gone  to  pot  along  with  the 
Judge's  inferior  races. 


23 


"I  had  thought  the  Declaration  promised  something  bet- 
ter than  the  condition  of  British  subjects  ;  but  no,  it  only 
meant  that  we  should  be  equal  to  them  in  their  own  o))- 
pressed  and  vneqval  condition.  According  to  that,  it 
pave  no  promise  that,  having  kicked  off  the  King  and 
LorJs  of  Great  Britain,  we  should  not  at  once  be  saddled 
with  a  King  and  Lords  of  our  own. 

"I  had  thought  the  Declaration  contemplated  a  pro- 
gressive improvement  in  the  condition  of  all  men  every- 
where ;  but  no,  it  merely  'was  adopted  for  the  purpose  of 
justifying  the  colonists  in  the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world  in 
withdrawing  their  allegiance  from  the  British  crown,  and 
dissolving  their  connection  with  the  mother  country.' 
Why,  that  object  having  been  effected  some  eighty  yfars 
ago,  the  Declaration  is  of  no  practical  use  now — mere 
rubbish — old  wadding  left  to  rot  on  the  battle-field  after 
the  victory  is  won. 

"  I  understand  you  are  preparing  to  celebrate  the '  Fourth,' 
to-morrow  week.  What  for?  The  doings  of  that  day  had 
no  reference  to  the  present ;  and  quite  half  of  you  are  not 
even  descendants  of  those  who  were  referred  to  at  that 
day.  But  I  suppose  you  will  celebrate,  and  will  even  go 
so  far  as  to  read  the  Declaration.  Suppose  after  you  read 
it  once  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  you  read  it  once  more 
with  Judge  Douglas's  version.  It  will  then  run  thus:  'We 
hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  British  subjects 
who  were  on  this  continent  eighty-one  years  ago,  were 
created  equal  to  all  British  subjects  born  and  then  residing 
in  Great  Britain.' 

"And  now,  I  appeal  to  all — to  Democrats  as  well  as  oth- 
ers— _are  you  really  willing  that  the  Declaration  shall  thus 
be  frittered  away  ? — thus  left  no  more,  at  most,  than  an 
interesting  memorial  of  the  dead  past? — thus  shorn  of  its 
vitality  and  practical  value,  and  left  without  the  germ,  or 
even  the  suggesiicm,  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  man  in  it  ?" 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  gave  his  own  views  of  the 
intention  of  the  framers  of  the  Declaration ; 
and  in  the  contrast  between  his  theory  and 
that  ©f  Douglas,  the  relative  moral  and  philo- 
.sophic  status  of  the  two  men  is  most  cleaily 
«hown.     This  is  Mr.  Lincoln's  theory  : — 


"  I  think  the  autliors  of  that  notable  instrument  intended 
to  include  all  men,  but  they  did  not  intend  to  declare  all 
men  equal  in  aU respects.  They  did  not  mean  to  say  all 
were  equal  in  color,  size,  intellect,  moral  developments, 
or  social  capacity.  They  defined  with  tolerable  distinct- 
ness, in  what  respects  they  did  consider  all  men  created 
equal — equalin  "certain  inalienable  rights,  among  which 
are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  This  they 
said,  and  this  they  meant.  They  did  not  mean  to  assert 
the  obvious  untruth  that  all  were  then  actually  enjoying 
that  equality,  nor  yet  that  they  were  about  to  confer  it 
immediately  upon  them.  In  fact,  they  had  no  power  to 
confer  such  a  boon.  They  meant  simply  to  declare  the 
right,  so  that  the  enforcement  of  it  might  follow  as  fast  as 
circumstances  should  permit. 

"  TTieymeanttosetup  astandardmaxim  for  free  soci- 
ety, vMch  should  ie  familiar  to  all,  andretered  by  all; 
constantly  looked  to,  constantly  labored  for,  and  even 
though,  never  perfectly  attained,  constantly  approxi- 
mated, and  thereby  constantly  spreading  and  deepen- 
i7ig  its  infltience,  and  augmenting  the  happiness  and 
vahie  of  life  to  allpeople  of  all  colors  everyuhere.  The 
assertion  that  "  all  men  are  created  equal,"  was  of  no 
practical  use  in  effecting  our  separation  from  Great  Brit- 
ain ;  and  It  was  placed  in  the  Declaration,  not  for  that, 
but  for  future  use.  Its  authors  meant  it  to  be  as,  thank 
God,  it  is  now  proving  itself,  a  stumbling-block  to  all 
those  who  in  after  times  might  seek  to  turn  a  free  people 
back  into  the  hateful  paths  of  despotism.  They  knew  the 
proneness  of  prosperity  to  breed  tyrants,  and  they  meant 
when  such  should  reappear  in  this  fair  land  and  com- 
mence their  vocation,  they  should  find  left  for  them  at 
least  one  hard  nut  to  crack." 

Let  the  reader  decide  on  which  theory  the 
heroes  of  the  Revolution  are  most  entitled  to 
the  veneration  of  posterity — on  which  the  as- 
sertion and  defense  of  the  natural  and  inalien- 
able rights  of  man  can  be  most  successfully 
maintained. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    SENATORIAL   CONTEST   WITH   DOUGLAS,    IN   1858. 


The  Democratic  State  Convention  met  at 
Springfield  on  the  21st  of  April,  1858,  and 
published  a  declaration  of  the  principles  on 
which  they  proposed  to  make  their  battle. 
They  resolved — 

"  That  the  Democracy  of  Illinois  are  unalterably  attach- 
ed to,  and  will  maintain  inviolate,  the  principles  declared 
in  the  Is  at' on<<l  Democratic  Convention  at  Cincinnati, 
in  June, -iSbC:' 

Several  supplementary  resolutions  were 
adopted,  all  tending  to  the  same  conclusion. 
Senator  Douglas  and  his  Democratic  col- 
leagues in  the  House  of  Representatives  were 
warmly  indorsed,  and  promised  the  "  earnest 
and  efficient  support"  of  the  party  in  the 
coming  campaign.  No  rebuke  was  offered  to 
the  Administration  for  its  course  on  Lecomp- 
ton,  except  by  a  misty  inference.  The  last  re- 
solution was  as  follows : 

"  nesolted.  That  in  all  things  wherein  the  National  Ad- 
ministration sustain  and  carry  out  the  principles  of  the 
Democratic  party,  as  expres-ed  in  the  Cincinnati  platform 
and  affirmed  in  their  resolutions,  it  is  entitled  to  and  will 
receive  cur  hearty  support," 


The  distinct  and  unqualified  endorsement  of 
the  Cincinnati  platform  by  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Douglas,  their  neglect  to  pass  any  censure  en 
the  corruptions  and  tergiversations  of  Presi- 
dent Buchanan,  and  their  violent  speeches  in 
the  Convention  against  the  Republicans,  de- 
stroyed whatever  hope  of  union  and  compro- 
mise might  have  been  entertained  by  members 
of  either  party.  The  challenge  had  passed, 
and  the  Republicans  were  not  slow  in  accept- 
ing it.  Their  State  Convention  was  held  at 
Springfield  on  the  IGth  of  June,  seven  weeks 
later  than  the  other.  Nearly  one  thousand 
delegates  and  alternates  were  present,  and  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  credentials  re- 
ported fourteen  hundred  persons  in  attend- 
ance, other  than  the  resident  population  of  the 
capital.  It  was  very  soon  ascertained  that  the 
convention  was  all  for  Lincoln.  Immediately 
after  the  organization,  a  Chicago  delegate 
brought  into  the  hall  a  banner  on  which  were 
inscribed  the  words,  "  Cook  County  for 
Abraham  Lincoln."     The  whole  Convention 


24 


rose  simultaneously,  and  gave  three  cheers  for 
the  candidate  upon  whom  it  was  proposed  to 
confer   the  peiilous  honor  of    a   nomination 
against  Senator    Douglas.      The    precarious 
ground  which  Mr.  Douglas's  opposition  to  the 
Lecompton  Constitution  had  left  for  a  distinc- 
tive Republican  candidate  before  the  masses, 
was  carefully  considered  by  the  committee  on 
resolutions.     The  alleged  sympathy  entertain- 
ed for  him  by  prominent  Republicans  in  other 
parts  of  the   country ;  the  odor  of  free-soil 
which  he  had  collected  in  his  garments  during 
the  recent  session  of  Congress,  notwithstand- 
ing his  obstinate  and  blind  adherence  to  the 
Dred   Scott  decision  ;  the  universal  favor  to 
which  he  had  been  commended  by  the  perse- 
cutions of  the  Administration  ;  the  flagrant  ap- 
portionment of  the  State  into  Legislative  Dis- 
tricts, by  which  ninety -three  thousand  people 
in  the  Republican  counties  were  virtually  dis- 
franchised,— combined  to  give  a  very  unpromi- 
sing complexion  to  the  campaign.     Nothing 
was  to  be  done,  however,  but  to  lay  down  a 
platform  of  straight  Republican  principles  and 
trust  to  their  potency,  and  the  popularity  of 
their  leader,  f©r  a  successful  issue.     It  was 
agreed  that  any  result  was  to  be  courted  rather 
than  allow  the  Republican  party  to  become 
the  tail  for  a  kite  patched  together  from  the 
Cincinnati  platform  and  the  Dred  Scott  deci- 
sion.    The  Convention  then  proceeded  to  the 
adoption  of  a  platform  of  principles,  and  the 
nomination  of  candidates  for  State  Treasurer 
and  Superintendent  of  Pubhc  Instruction.     It 
was  not  deemed  advisable  by  the  committee 
on  resolutions  to  give  Mr.  Lincoln  a  formal 
nomination  for  the  Senate,  but  many  members 
of  the  convention  deemed  it  proper  to  do  so, 
in  order  to  destroy  the  force   of  allegations, 
which  had  already  been  put  forth  by  Mr.  Doug- 
las from  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  that  the  Re- 
publicans designed  to  elect  a  different  man 
provided  they  were  successful  in  securing  a 
majority  of  the  Legislature.    The  following  re- 
solution was  therefore  offered  by  a  delegate, 
and  adopted  unanimously  : 

"  liesol'ved.  That  the  Hon.  Abraham  Lincoln  is  our  first 
and  only  choice  for  U.  S.  Senator,  to  fill  the  vacancy  about 
to  be  created  by  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Douglas's  term  of 
office." 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  frequently  called  for 
during  the  session,  but  did  not  make  his  ap- 
pearance. The  Secretary  of  State,  however, 
announced  that,  if  it  was  the  desire  of  his 
friends,  he  would  address  the  members  of  the 
convention  in  the  Representatives'  Hall  in  the 
evening.  About  8  o'clock,  therefore,  the  room 
was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and  Mr.  Lin- 
coln spoke  about  half  an  hour.  The  limits  of 
this  work  do  not  permit  the  introduction  of 
any  speeches  at  full  length,  but  the  masterly 
manner  in  which  the  pending  topics  were  dis- 
cussed, the  wide  celebrity  which  this  speech 


acquired,  and  more  especially  the  fact  that  it 
contained  the  essence  of  the  whole  campaign, 
require  that  more  than  a  passing  notice  should 
be  given  to  it.  The  exceeding  terseness  of  all 
Mr.  Lincoln's  efforts  renders  it  difficult  to 
condense  his  utterances  without  impairing  or 
destroying  their  force,  yet  the  reader  will  be 
able  to  catch  the  essential  points  of  his  argu- 
ment from  the  following  summary.  We  quote 
the  opening  paragraph  entire  : 

"  Mr.  President,  and  Gbntle.mf.n  of  the  Convention  : 
If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are 
tending,  we  could  better  judge  what  to  do,  and  how  to  do 
it.  We  are  now  in  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was 
initiated  with  the  avowed  object,  and  confident  promise, 
of  putting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation.  Under  the  opera- 
tion of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has  not  only  not  ceased, 
but  has  constantly  augmented.  In  my  opinion,  it  will 
not  cease,  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and 
passed.  'A  house  divided  agninst  itself  cannot  stand.'  I 
believe  this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half 
slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dis- 
solved— I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall — but  I  do  expect 
it  will  cease  to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing, 
or  all  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will 
arrest  the  further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the 
public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course 
of  ultimate  extinction  ;  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  for- 
ward, till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States, 
Old  as  well  as  New — North  as  well  as  South. 

"  Have  we  no  tendency  to  the  latter  condition  ? 

"Let  anyone  who  doubts,  carefully  contemplate  that 
now  almost  complete  legal  combination — piece  of  ma- 
chinery, so  to  speak — compounded  of  the  Nebraska  doc- 
trine, and  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  Let  him  consider  not 
only  what  work  the  machinery  is  adapted  to,  and  how 
well  adapted;  but  also,  let  him  study  the  history  of  its 
construction,  and  trace,  if  he  can, — or  ratherfail,  if  he  can, 
to  trace  the  evidences  of  design  and  concert  of  action, 
among  its  chief  architects,  from  the  beginning." 

Mr.  Lincoln  then  proceeded  to  show  that 
prior  to  1854  slavery  had  been  excluded  from 
more  than  half  the  States  by  local  laws  or 
constitutions,  and  from  the  greater  portion  of 
the  national  territory  by  congressional  pro- 
hibition. On  the  4th  of  January,  1854,  the 
struggle  commenced,  which  ended  with  the 
repeal  of  the  congressional  prohibition,  ac- 
complished on  the  grounds  of  squatter  sov- 
ereignty, and  "sacred  right  of  self-govern- 
ment," which  meant  that  "if  any  one  man 
chooses  to  enslave  another,  no  third  man 
shall  be  allowed  to  object."  This  is  shown  to 
be  a  correct  definition  by  the  fact  that  when 
Mr.  Chase,  in  the  Senate,  and  Mr.  Mace,  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  offered  their 
amendments  to  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  de- 
claring that  the  people  of  the  territories  might 
exclude  slavery  if  they  wanted  to,  Mr.  Doug- 
las and  the  other  friends  of  the  measure  voted 
them  dotcn.  But  while  the  Nebraska  Bill  was 
going  through  Congress  the  Dred  Scott  case 
was  going  through  the  courts,  and  when  Sen- 
ator Trumbull  asked  Senator  Douglas  whether 
in  his  opinion  the  people  of  a  territory  could 
exclude  slavery,  the  latter  replied  that  it  was 
"a  question  for  the  Supreme  Court," — the 
Nebraska  Bill  having  provided  that  the  rights 
of  the  people  should  be  "  subject  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States."  The  Nebraska 
Bill  was   passed  by  both   branches  of  Con- 


#'▲'%▼*,>  ' 


25 


gress,  and  received  the  signature  of  the  Pres- 
ident; the  Election  of  1856  was  carried  by 
the  Democracy,  on  the  issue  of  "sacred  right 
of  self-government";  and  then  the  Supreme 
Court  decided,  in  the  Dred  Scott  case,  that 
neither  Congress  nw  a  Territorial  Legislature 
could  exclude  slavery  from  any  United  States 
Territory.  But  the  Dred  Scott  judges  refused 
to  decide  whether  the  holding  of  Dred  Scott 
in  the  free  State  of  Illinois,  by  his  master, 
made  him  a  free  man.  One  member  of  the 
Court  (Judge  Nelson)  approached  this  branch 
of  the  case  so  nearly  as  to  say  that  "except 
in  cases  where  the  power  is  restrained  '  ly  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,^  the  law  of 
the  State  is  supreme  over  the  subject  of  sla- 
very, within  its  jurisdiction."  In  view  of  this 
strange  decision,  does  it  not  appear  that  the 
phrase,  "  subject  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,"  in  the  Nebraska  Bill,  was 
interpolated  for  the  purpose  of  leaving  room 
for  the  Dred  Scott  decision  ?  We  quote  again 
from  Mr.  Lincoln's  words : 

"We  cannot  absolutely  know  that  all  these  exact  adap- 
tations are  the  result  of  preconcert.  But  when  we  see  a 
lot  of  iramed  timbers,  different  portions  of  which  we 
know  have  been  gotten  out  at  different  times  and  places 
and  by  different  workmen — Stephen,  Franklin,  Koger, 
and  James,  for  instance— and  when  we  see  these  timbers 
joined  together,  and  see  they  exactly  make  the  frame  of  a 
house  or  a  mill,  all  the  tenons  and  mortices  exactly 
fitting,  and  all  the  lengths  and  proportions  of  the  differ- 
ent pieces  exactly  ad.apted  to  their  respective  places,  and 
not  a  piece  too  many  or  too  few — not  omitting  even  scaf- 
folding— or,  if  a  single  piece  be  lacking,  we  see  the  pla':c 
in  the  frame  exactly  fitted  and  prepared  yet  to  bring  such 
piece  in — in  such  a  case,  we  find  it  impossible  not  to  be- 
lieve that  Stephen  and  Franklin  and  Roger  and  James  all 
understood  one  another  from  the  beginning,  and  all 
worked  upon  a  common  jjlan  or  draft,  drawn  up  before  the 
first  blow  was  struck." 

So  far  as  to  Territories.  How  as  to  States  ? 
Singularly  enough,  the  Nebraska  Bill  said  that 
it  was  "the' true  intent  and  meaning  of  this 
act  not  to  legislate  slavery  into  any  Territory 
or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  therefrom."  Why 
was  the  word  "State"  employed?  The  Ne- 
braska conspirators  were  legislating  for  Terri- 
toi-ies,  not  States.  It  would  seem,  from  the 
ominous  expression  of  Judge  Nelson,  quoted 
above,  as  though  a  second  niche  had  been  left 
in  the  Nebraska  Bill,  to  be  filled  by  a  second 
Dred  Scott  decision, — possibly  the  decision  in 
the  Lemmon  case — declaring  that  as  no  Terri- 
tory can  exclude  slavery,  neither  can  any 
State.  "And,"  says  Mr.  Lincoln,  "this  may 
especially  be  expected  if  the  doctrine  of  '  care 
not  whether  slavery  be  voted  down  or  voted 
up,'  shall  gain  upon  the  public  mind  suffi- 
ciently to  give  promise  that  such  a  decision 
can  be  maintained  when  made." 

Such  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  admirable  presenta- 
tion of  the  issues  of  1858.  It  is  difficult  to 
see  in  what  point  the  argument  is  not  equally 
good  to-day. 

Mr.  Douglas  returned  to  Chicago  on  the 
9th  of  July,  and  speedily  realized  the  expec- 


tations of  the  Republicans  of  his  own  State  by 
making  a  speech  cordially  and  emphatically 
re-indorsing  the  Dred  Scott  decisio}i. 

On  the  24:th  of  July,  Mr.  Lincoln  addressed 
the  following  note  to  his  antagonist : 

"  Hon.  S.  A.  Douglas— 3/!/  Dear  Sir  /—Will  it  be  agree- 
able to  you  to  make  an  arrangement  for  you  and  myself 
to  divide  time,  and  address  the  same  audiences  during  the 
present  canvass?  Mr.  Judd,  who  will  hand  you  this,  is 
authorized  to  receive  your  answer ;  and,  if  agreeable  to 
you,  to  enter  into  the  terms  of  such  arrangement. 

"Your  obedient  servant,         A.  LINCOLN." 

Mr.  Douglas  had  too  vivid  a  recollection  of 
his  past  encounters  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  de- 
sire a  repetition  of  them.  Had  he  not  felt  in 
his  inmost  soul  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  more 
than  a  match  for  him  in  debate,  he  would  not 
have  waited  for  a  challenge,  but  would  him- 
self have  thrown  down  the  glove  to  Mr.  Lin- 
coln immediately  upon  entering  the  State. 
His  reply,  declining  the  proposed  arrange- 
ment, was  quite  voluminous,  and  presented  a 
singular  array  of  reasons  why  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  him  to  meet  Mr.  Lincoln  accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  the  challenge.  His  chief 
objection  was  that  the  Democratic  candidates 
for  Congress  and  the  Legislature  desired  to 
address  the  people  at  the  various  county  seats 
in  conjunction  with  him;  a  pretext  which, 
whether  true  or  not  as  to  the  "desire,"  was 
found  to  be  altogether  untrue  as  to  the  fulfill- 
ment. Mr.  Douglas,  nevertheless,  consented 
to  seven  meetings  with  his  opponent  for  joint 
discussion,  to  wit,  at  Ottawa,  Freeport,  Jones- 
boro',  Charleston,  Galesburg,  Quincy,  and 
Alton.  Mr.  Lincoln,  of  course,  promptly  ac- 
ceded to  this  arrangement.  As  he  could  not 
prevail  upon  Douglas  to  meet  him  in  discus- 
sion in  every  part  of  the  State,  he  was  willing 
to  do  the  next  best  thing— meet  him  wherever 
he  could  have  the  opportunity. 

Mr.  Douglas  having  taken  no  notice  at  Chi- 
cago, Bloomington,  or  Springfield,  where  he 
made  preliminary  speeches,  of  the  "  conspira- 
cy" to  which  his  attention  had  been  called 
by  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  speech  of  June  16th, 
the  latter  deemed  it  proper  to  take  a  default 
on  him,  and  to  dwell  somewhat  upon  the 
enormity  of  his  having  "  left  a  niche  in  the 
Nebraska  Bill  to  receive  the  Dred  Scott  deci- 
sion," which  declared  that  a  Territorial  Legis- 
lature could  not  abolish  slavery.  Mr.  Doug- 
las was  not  slow  in  discovering  that  this 
charge,  fortified  as  it  was  by  overwhelming 
evidence,  had  begun  to  hurt.  Therefore,  at 
Clinton,  De  Witt  County,  he  took  occa.sion  to 
read  the  charge  to  his  audience,  and  to  say  in 
reply  that  "  his  self-respect  alone  prevented 
him  from  calling  it  a  falsehood."  A  few  days 
later,  the  "self-respect"  broke  down,  and  at 
Beardstown,  Cass  County,  he  pronounced  it, 
with  much  vehemence  of  gesture,  "  an  infa- 
mous lie!" 

Mr.  Lincoln  commenced  his  canvass  of  the 


26 


State  at  Beardstown,  a  place  of  considerable 
importance  on  the  Illinois  River,  on  the  12th 
of  August.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  speech 
OH  this  occasion,  he  reviewed  the  conspiracy 
charge  in  a  manner  so  forcible  that  it  can  only 
be  told  in  his  own  language  : 

********* 

"  I  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  it  would  be  more  to  the 
purpose  for  Judge  Douglas  to  say  that  he  did  not  repeal 
tlie  Missouri  Compromise ;  that  he  did  not  make  slavery 
possible  where  it  was  Impossible  before;  that  he  did  «o; 
leave  a  niche  in  the  Nebraska  Bill  for  the  Dred  Scott  de- 
cision to  rest  in  ;  that  he  did  not  vote  down  a  clause  giv- 
ing the  people  the  right  to  exclude  slavery  if  they  wanted 
to;  that  he  did  M0<  refuse  to  give  his  individual  opinion 
whether  a  Territorial  Legislature  could  exclude  slavery  ; 
that  he  did  not  make  a  report  to  the  Senate  in  which  he 
said  that  the  rights  of  the  people  in  this  regard  were  '  held 
in  abeyance'  and  could  not  be  immediately  exercised; 
that  he  did  no<  make  a  hasty  Indorsement  of  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  over  at  Springfield;  that  he  does  not 
now  Indorse  that  decision;  that  that  decision  does  not 
take  away  from  the  Territorial  Legislature  the  power  to 
exclude  slavery  ;  and  that  he  did  not  in  the  original  Ne- 
braska Bill  so  couple  the  words  Utate,  and  Territory  to- 
gether, that  what  the  Supreme  Court  has  done  in  forcing 
open  all  the  Territories  for  slavery,  it  may  yet  do  in  for- 
cing open  all  the  States — I  say  it  would  be  vastly  more  to 
the  point  for  Judge  Douglas  to  say  he  did  not  do  some  of 
these  things,  did  not  forge  some  of  these  links  of  over- 
whelming testimony,  than  to  go  to  vociferating  about  the 
country  that  possibly  he  may  be  obliged  to  hint  that 
somebody  is  a  liar!" 

From  Beardstown,  Mr.  Lincoln  went  up  the 
Illinois  River  to  Havana  and  Bath,  Alason 
county,  Lewistown  and  Canton,  Fulton  coun- 
ty, Peoria,  Henry,  Marshall  county,  speaking 
at  each  place,  and  thence  to  Ottawa  on  the 
21st  of  August,  where  the  first  joint  debate 
was  appointed  to  take  place.  An  immense 
audience,  estimated  by  the  friends  of  both 
parties  at  about  twelve  thousand,  had  con- 
gregated to  witness  the  first  grand  passage-at- 
arms.  Mr.  Douglas  had  appointed  to  himself 
the  opening  and  closing  of  the  first  and  last  of 
the  seven  discussions.  Accordingly  he  occu- 
pied an  hour  in  opening  at  Ottawa,  giving 
Mr.  Lincoln  an  hour  and  a  half  to  reply  and 
himself  half  an  hour  for  rejoinder.  The  only 
thing  of  even  moderate  consequence  presented 
in  Mr.  Douglas's  first  hour  was  a  series  of 
questions  to  his  antagonist  drawn  from  a 
series  of  radical  anti-slavery  resolutions  which, 
he  alleged,  had  been  reported  by  Mr.  Lincoln, 
as  chairman  of  a  committee,  to  the  Republican 
State  Convention  of  Illinois,  held  at  Springfield 
in  October,  1854.  To  this  Mr.  Lincoln  merely 
replied,  that  no  Republican  State  Convention 
was  held  at  Springfield,  or  anywhere  else,  in 
1854,  and  that  he  was  not  present  at  the 
meeting  held  there  by  a  small  number  of  per- 
sons, who  nominated  a  candidate  for  State 
Treasurer ;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  in  another 
Qounty,  attending  court.  Having  disposed  of 
this  matter  for  the  present,  he  proceeded  to 
occupy  his  time  with  the  vital  issues  of  the 
campaign,  dwelling  chiefly  on  the  Dred  Scott 
decision,  and  the  peculiar  reasoBS  put  forth 
by   Mr.  Douglas   for  sustaining   it.      "  This 


man,"  said  he,  '•  sticks  to  a  decj^ion  which 
forbids  the  people  of  a  Territory  from  exclud- 
ing slavery ;  and  he  does  so  not  because  he 
says  it  is  right  in  itself — he  does  not  give  any 
opinion  on  that — but  because  it  has  been 
decided  hy  the  coiirt,  and  being  decided  by 
the  court,  he  is,  and  you  are,  bound  to  take  it 
in  your  political  action  as  lato — not  that  he 
judges  at  all  of  its  merits,  but  because  a  deci- 
sion of  the  court  is  to  him  a  '  TTiiis  suith  the 
Lord?  He  places  it  on  that  ground  alone, 
and  you  will  bear  in  mind  that  this  com- 
mitting himself  unreservedly  to  this  decision, 
commits  Mm  to  the  next  one  just  as  firmly  as 
to  this.  He  did  not  commit  himself  on  account 
of  the  merit  or  demerit  of  the  decision,  but  it 
is  a  ITius  saith  the  Lord.  The  next  decision, 
as  much  as  this,  will  be  a  77ms  saith  the 
Lord."  Yet,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to 
show,  Mr.  Douglas's  public  record  presented 
three  glaring  instances  of  violation  of  Supreme 
Court  decisions:  (1)  his  repeated  indorsement 
of  Gen.  Jackson's  course  in  disregarding  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  declaring  a 
National  Bank  constitutional ;  (2)  his  endorse- 
ment of  the  Cincinnati  platform,  which  says 
that  Congress  cannot  charter  a  National  Bank, 
in  the  teeth  of  the  Supreme  Court  decision, 
declaring  that  Congress  can  do  so ;  (3)  his  no- 
torious war  upon  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illi- 
nois which  had  decided  that  the  Governor 
could  not  remove  a  Secretary  of  State,  which 
ended  in  the  appointment  of  five  new  judges, 
of  whom  Douglas  icas  07te,  to  vote  down  the 
four  old  ones.  And  here  exactly  was  the  time 
and  place  where  Mr.  Douglas  acquired  his 
title  of  "  Judge  " !  "  These  things,"  continued 
Mr.  Lincoln,  "  show  there  is  a  purpose,  strong 
as  death  and  eternity,  for  which  he  adheres  to 
this  decision,  and  for  which  he  will  adhere  to 
all  othe>'  decisions  of  the  same  court." 

The  following  eloquent  paragraph  concluded 
the  Ottawa  debate,  on  Mr.  Lincoln's  part : — 

""  Now,  having  spoken  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  one 
more  word,  and  I  am  done.  Henry  Clay,  my  beau  ideal 
of  a  statesman,  the  man  for  whom  I  fought  all  my  humble 
life — Henry  Clay  once  said  of  a  class  of  men  who  would 
repress  all  tendencies  to  liberty  and  ultimate  emancipation, 
that  they  must,  if  they  would  do  this,  go  back  to  the  era 
of  our  independence,  and  muzzle  the  cannon  which 
thunders  its  annual  joyous  return ;  they  must  blow  out 
the  moral  lights  around  us;  they  must  penetrate  the  hu- 
man soul,  and  eradicate  tliere  the  love  of  liberty;  and 
then,  and  not  till  then,  could  they  perpetuate  slavery  in 
this  country!  To  my  thinking,  Judge  Douglas  is,  by  hi.s 
example  and  vast  influence,  doing  that  very  thing  in  this 
comniunit3%  when  he  says  that  the  negro  has  nothing  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Henry  Clay  plainly 
understood  the  contrary.  Judge  Douglas  is  going  back 
to  the  epoch  of  our  KeVolution,  and,  to  the  extent  of  his 
ability,  muzzling  the  cannon  which  thunders  its  annual 
joyous  return.  When  he  invites  any  people,  willing  to 
have  slavery,  to  establish  it,  he  is  blowing  out  the  moral 
lights  around  us.  When  he  says,  he  "  cares  not  whether 
slavery  is  voted  down  or  voted  up" — that  it  is  a  sacred 
right  of  self-government— he  is,  in  my  judgment,  pene- 
trating the  human  soul,  and  eradicating  the  light  of  reason 
and  the  love  of  liberty  in  this  American  people.  And 
now  I  will  only  say,  that  vhen,  by  all  these  means  and 


27 


appliances,  Judge  Douglas  shall  succeed  in  bringing  pub- 
lic sentiment  to  an  exact  accordance  with  his  own  views — 
when  these  vast  assemblages  shall  echo  back  all  these 
sentiments — when  they  shall  come  to  repeat  his  views  and 
to  avow  his  principles,  and  to  say  all  that  he  says  on  these 
mighty  questions— then  it  needs  only  the  formality  of  tlie 
second  Ored  Scott  flecision,  which  he  endorses  in  advance, 
to  make  slavery  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  :is  well 
as  new,  North  as  well  as  South." 

When  Mr.  Dougla.s  had  occupied  his  half- 
hour,  and  the  debate  was  finished,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  borne  away  from  the  stand  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  friends,  in  a  frenzy  of  enthu- 
siasm. 

Directly  after  the  Ottawa  debate,  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  resolutions  which  Mr.  Doug- 
las produced  there,  and  declared  to  have 
been  written  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  Springfield, 
in  1854,  were  never  adopted  at  that  place  by 
any  lody,  but  had  been  passed  by  a  local  con- 
vention at  Aurora,  Kane  county.  Common 
people  very  naturally  called  it  a  forgery.  At 
the  Freeport  debate,  six  days  later,  Mr  Lin- 
coln referred  to  it  in  the  following  crushing 
paragraph  : — 

"I  allude  to  this  extraordinary  matter  in  this  canvass 
for  some  further  purpose  than  anything  yet  advanced. 
Judge  Douglas  did  not  make  his  statement  upon  that  oc- 
casion as  of  matters  that  he  believed  to  be  true,  but  he 
stated  them  roundly  as  heing  true,  in  such  form  as  to 
pledge  his  veracity  for  their  truth.  When  the  whole 
matter  turns  out  as  it  does,  and  when  we  consider  who 
Judge  Douglas  is — that  he  is  a  distinguished  Senator  of 
the  United  States — that  he  has  served  nearly  twelve  years 
as  such— that  his  character  is  not  at  all  limited  as  an  ordi- 
nary Senator  of  the  United  States,  but  that  his  name  has 
become  of  world-wide  renown — it  is  tnoat  extraordinarii 
that  he  should  so  far  forget  all  the  suggestions  of  justice 
to  an  adversary,  or  of  prudence  to  himself,  as  to  venture 
npon  the  assertion  of  that  which  the  slightest  investiga- 
tion would  have  shown  him  to  be  wholly  false.  I  can 
only  account  for  his  having  done  so  upon  the  supposition 
that  that  evil  genius  which  has  attended  him  through  his 
life,  giving  to  him  an  astonishing  prosperity,  such  as  to  lead 
very  many  good  men  to  doubt  there  being  any  advantage 
in  virtue  over  vice — I  say,  I  can  only  account  for  it  on  the 
supposition  that  that  evil  genius  has  at  last  made  up  Its 
mind  to  forsake  him." 

The  questions  propounded  by  Mr.  Douglas 
to  his  antagonist  at  Ottawa  were  still  out- 
standing, unanswered.  At  Freeport,  Mr. 
Lincoln  took  them  up,  and  replied  to  them  seri- 
atim^ as  follows  : — - 

Question  1.  "I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  to-day 
stands  pledged,  as  he  did  in  18.34,  in  favor  of  the  uncon- 
ditional repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  ?" 

Answer.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  pledged  in 
favor  of  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
law. 

Q.  2.  "  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  stands 
pledged  to-day,  as  he  did  in  1 854,  against  the  admission  of  any 
more  slave  States  into  the  Union,  even  if  the  people  want 
them?" 

A.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand  pledged  against  the 
admission  of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union. 

Q.  3.  "I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged 
against  the  admission  of  a  new  State  into  the  Union  with 
such  a  Constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State  may  see  fit 
to  make  ?" 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the  admission  of  a 
new  State  into  the  Union,  with  such  a  Constitution  as  the 
people  of  that  .-tate  may  see  fit  to  make. 

Q.  4.  "  I  want  to  know  whether  he  stands  to-d.ny 
pledsed  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  C'o- 
lumbia?'' 

A.  I  do  not  stand  to-day  pledsed  to  the  abolition  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Q.  5.    "  I  desire  him  to   answer  whether  he  stands 


pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  between  the 
different  States  ?" 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the  prohibition  of  the 
slave-trade  between  the  ditferent  States. 

Q.  6.  "  I  desire  to  know  whether  he  stands  pledged  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  all  the  Territories  of  llie  United  States, 
North  us  well  as  ^outh  of  the  Missouri  Comi)roniise  line?" 

A.  1  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressly,  pledged  to  a  be- 
lief in  the  right  and  Out)/  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery 
in  all  the  United  States'  Territories. 

Q.  7.  "  1  desire  him  to  answer  whether  he  is  opposed 
to  the  acquisition  of  any  new  territory  unless  slavery  is 
first  prohibited  therein  ?" 

A.  I  am  not  generally  opposed  to  honest  acquisition  of 
territory;  and,  in  any  given  case,!  would  or  would  not 
oppose  such  acquisition,  according  as  I  might  think  such 
acquisition  would  or  would  not  aggravate  the  slavery 
question  among  ourselves. 

Now,  my  friends,  it  will  be  perceived,  upon  an  examina- 
tion of  these  questions  and  answers,  that  so  far  I  have 
only  answered  that  I  was  not  pledged  to  this,  that,  or  the 
other.  The  Judge  has  not  framed  his  interrogatories  to 
ask  me  anything  more  than  thi.s,  and  I  have  answered  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  interrogatories,  and  have  an- 
swered truly  that  I  am  not  pledged  at  all  upon  any  of  the 
points  to  which  I  have  answered.  But  I  am  not  disposed 
to  hang  upon  the  exact  form  of  his  interrog.itory.  I  am 
rather  disposed  to  take  up  at  least  some  of  these  questions, 
and  state  what  I  really  think  upon  them. 

As  to  the  first  one,  in  regard  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  law, 
I  have  never  hesitated  to  say,  and  I  do  not  now  hesitate 
to  say,  that  I  think,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  the  people  of  the  t^outhern  ttates  are  entiiled  to  a 
Congressional  Fugitive  Slave  law.  Having  said  that,  I 
have  had  nothing  to  say  in  regard  to  the  existing  Fugitive 
Slave  law,  further  than  that  I  think  it  should  have  been 
framed  so  as  to  be  free  from  some  of  the  objections  that 
pertain  to  It,  without  lessening  its  efficiency.  And  inas- 
much as  we  are  not  now  in  an  agitation  in  regard  to  an 
alteration  or  modification  of  that  law,  I  would  not  be  the 
man  to  introduce  it  as  a  new  subject  of  agitation  npon  the 
general  question  of  slavery. 

Iji  regard  to  the  other  question,  of  v^'helher  I  am  pledged 
lo  the  admission  of  any  more  slave  Slates  into  the  Union. 
I  state  to  you  very  frankly  that  I  would  be  exceedingly 
sorry  ever  to  be  put  in  a  position  of  having  to  pass  upon 
that  question.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  know  that 
there  would  never  be  another  slave  Stale  admitted  into  the 
Union  ;  but  I  must  add  that,  if  slavery  shall  be  kept  out  of 
the  Territories  during  the  territorial  existence  of  any  one 
given  Territory,  and  then  the  people  sliall,  having  a  fair 
chance  and  a  clear  field,  when  they  come  lo  adopt  the 
Constitution,  do  such  an  extraordinary  thing  as  to  adopt  a 
Slave  Constitution,  uninfluenced  by  the  actual  presence  of 
the  institution  among  them,  I  see  no  alternative,  if  we 
own  the  country,  but  lo  admit  them  into  the  Union. 

The  third  interrogatory  is  answered  by  the  answer  to 
the  second,  it  being,  as  I  conceive,  the  same  as  the  second. 

The  fourth  one  is  in  regard  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  In  relation  lo  thai,  I  have  my 
mind  very  distinctly  made  up.  I  should  be  exceedingly 
elad  to  see  slavery  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
I  believe  that  Congress  possesses  the  Constitutional  power 
to  abolish  it.  Yet  as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  should  not, 
will)  my  present  views,  be  in  favor  of  endeavoring  lo 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  unless  it  would 
be  upon  these  conditions  :  Firi^t,  that  the  abolition  should 
be  gradual.  Second,  that  it  should  be  on  a  vote  of  the 
majority  of  qualified  voters  in  the  District  ;  and  third, 
that  compensation  .should  be  made  to  unwilling  owners. 
With  these  three  conditions,  I  confess  I  would  be  exceed- 
ingly glad  to  see  Congress  abolish  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  and,  in  the  language  of  Henry  Clay,  "sweep 
from  our  Capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our  nation." 

In  regard  lo  the  fifth  interrogatory,  I  must  say  here,  that 
as  to  the  question  of  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  be- 
tween the  difP'rent  States,  I  can  truly  answer,  as  I  have, 
that  I  a.m  pledged  to  nothing  about  it.  It  is  a  subject  to 
which  I  have  not  given  that  mature  consideration  that 
would  make  me  feel  authorized  to  state  a  position  so  as  to 
hold  myself  entirely  bound  by  it.  In  other  words,  that 
question  has  never  been  prominently  enough  before  me  to 
induce  me  to  investigate  whelhtr  we  really  have,  the  con- 
stitutional power  lodo  it.  I  could  investigate  it  if  I  had 
sufficient  time,  to  bring  myself  to  a  conclusion  upon  that 
subject  ;  but  I  have  not  done  so,  and  I  say  so  frankly  to 
you  here,  and  to  Judge  Douglas.  I  must  say,  however, 
that  if  I  should  be  of  opinion  that  Congress  does  possess 


28 


the  conslitutional  power  to  abolish  the  slave-trade  among 
llic  different  States,  I  should  still  not  be  in  favor  of  the  ex- 
ercise of  that  power  unless  upon  some  conservative  prm- 
ciple,  as  I  conceive  it,  akin  to  what  I  have  said  in  relation 
to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

My  answer  as  to  whether  I  desire  that  slavery  should  be 
prohibited  in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  State's,  is  full 
and  explicit  within  itself,  and  cannot  be  made  clearer  by 
any  comments  of  mine.  So  I  suppose  in  regard  to  the 
question  whether  I  am  opposed  to  the  acquisi'.ion  of  any 
more  territory  unless  slavery  is  first  prohibited  therein,  my 
answer  is  such  that  I  could  add  nothing  by  way  of  illustra- 
tion, or  making  myself  better  understood,  than  the  answer 
wliieh  I  have  placed  in  writing. 

Mr.  Lincoln  having  answered  all  the  ques- 
tions propounded  by  his  adversary,  as  Senator 
Benjamin  observes,  "  with  no  equivocation,  no 
evasion,"  it  now  became  his  turn  to  interro- 
gate. The  two  prominent  facts  of  the  cam- 
paign, in  Mr.  Lincoln's  view,  were  "Popular 
Sovereignty,"  so  called,  and  the  Dred  Scott 
decision — each  a  sham  and  a  fraud,  yet  di- 
rectly antagonistic.  Mr.  Lincoln  therefore  re- 
solved to  present  them  to  Mr.  Douglas  in  ihe 
form  of  a  brief  interrogatory,  so  worded  that 
even  the  latter  could  find  no  avenue  for  es- 
caping or  dodging  the  contradiction.  He  men- 
tioned to  some  ©f  his  friends  at  Freeport  that 
such  was  his  purpose.  They  unanimously 
counseled  him  to  let  that  topic  alone,  "  for," 
said  they,  "if  you  put  that  question  to  him, 
he  will  perceive  that  an  answer  giving  pi-ac- 
tical  force  and  effect  to  the  Dred  Scott  de- 
cision in  the  Territories  inevitably  loses  him 
the  battle,  and  he  will  therefore  reply  by 
affirming  the  decision  as  an  abstract  princi- 
ple, but  denying  its  practical  application." 
"But,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,"  "  if  he  does  that,  he 
can  never  be  President."  His  friends  re- 
plied, with  one  voice,  "  That's  not  3^our  look- 
out ;  you  are  after  the  Senatorship.^^  "  No, 
gentlemen,"  rejoined  Mr,  Lincoln,  "  I  am 
UlUng  larger  game.  The  battle  of  1860 
is  worth  a  hundred  of  this!"  So  the  ques- 
tions were  put,  and  Mr.  Douglas  was  forced 
to  avow  his  dogma  of  "  unfriendly  legisla- 
tion." His  present  position  as  the  candidate 
for  the  Presidency  of  a  faction  of  his  party, 
verifies  Mr.  Lincoln's  prediction. 

The  third  joint  discussion  was  held  nineteen 
days  later,  at  Jonesborough,  Union  County 
(Lower  Egypt),  on  the  15th  of  September. 
The  intervening  time  was  occupied  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  active  canvassing.  He  spoke  suc- 
cessively to  large  audiences  at  Fremont,  Car- 
linville,  Clinton,  Bloomington,  Monticello, 
Mattoon,  Paris,  Hillsborough,  Edwardsville, 
and  Greenville. 

At  Edwardsville,  Madison  County,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln had  comparatively  a  small  audience — 
three  or  four  hundred,  perhaps.  This  county 
was  one  of  four  in  the  State  which  gave  a  plu- 
rality for  Mr.  Fillmore  in  1856 — the  vote  stand- 
ing :  Fillmore,  1,658;  Buchanan,  1,451;  Fre- 
mont, 1,111.  Notwithstanding  the  "  conserv- 
ative "  character  of  the  people  in  this  latitude. 


Mr.  Lincoln  gave  them  a  straightforward  Re- 
publican speech,  without  altering  or  modifying 
a  syllable  of  the  party  creed,  concluding  with 
the  following  masterly  appeal  to  the  reason 
and  consciences  of  his  hearers : 

"  My  I'riends,  I  have  endeavored  to  show  you  the  logi- 
cal consequences  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  which  holds 
that  the  people  of  a  Territory  cannot  prevent  the  establish- 
ment of  slavery  in  their  midst.  I  have  stated  what  can- 
not be  gamsayed,  that  the  grounds  upon  which  this  deci- 
sion is  made  are  equally  applicable  to  the  Free  States  as  to 
the  Free  Territories,  and  that  the  peculiar  reasons  put 
forth  by  Judge  Douglas  for  indorsing  this  decision,  com- 
mit him  in  advance  to  the  next  decision,  and  to  all  other 
decisions  emanating  from  the  same  source.  And,  when  by 
all  these  means  you  have  succeeded  in  dehumanizing  the 
negro  ;  when  you  have  put  him  down,  and  made  it  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  be  but  as  the  beasts  of  the  field  ;  when  you 
have  extinguished  liis  soul,  and  placed  him  where  the  ray 
of  hope  is  blown  out  in  the  darkness  that  broods  over  the 
damned,  are  you  quite  sure  the  demon  you  have  roused 
will  not  turn  and  rend  you?  What  constitutes  the  bul- 
wark of  our  liberty  and  independence?  It  is  not  our 
frowning  battlements,  our  bristling  sea-coasts,  tlie  guns  of 
our  war  steamers,  or  the  strength  of  our  gallant  army. 
These  are  not  our  reliance  against  a  resumption  of  tyranny 
in  our  land.  All  of  them  may  be  turned  against  our 
lil>erties  without  making  us  stronger  or  weaker  for  the 
struggle.  Our  reliance  is  iu  the  love  of  liberty  which  God 
has  planted  in  our  bosomc.  Our  defense  is  in  the  preser- 
vation of  the  spirit  which  prizes  liberty  as  the  heritage  of 
all  Dien,  in  all  lands,  everywhere.  Destroy  this  spirit,  and 
you  have  planted  the  seeds  of  despotism  around  your  own 
doors.  Familiarize  yourselves  with  the  chains  of  bond- 
age, and  you  are  preparing  your  own  limbs  to  wear 
them.  Accustomed  to  trample  on  the  rights  of  those 
around  you,  you  have  lost  the  genius  of  your  own  inde- 
pendence, and  become  the  fit  subjects  of  the  first  cunning 
tyrant  who  rises  atnong  you.  And  let  ine  tell  you  that  all 
the.se  things  are  prepared  for  you  with  the  logic  of  history, 
if  the  elections  shall  promise  that  the  next  Dred  Scott  de- 
cision and  all  future  decisions  will  be  quietly  acquiesced  in 
by  the  people." 

After  making  a  similar  speech  at  Green- 
ville, Bond  County,  whose  vote  stood  in  1856 
Filmore,  659;  Buchanan,  607;  Fremont,  153, 
— but  which  was  nevertheless  carried  in  1858 
by  Mr.  Gillespie,  the  Republican  candidate  for 
State  Senator — Mr.  Lincoln  proceeded  to  the 
Jonesborough  "milk-pan,"  as  he  facetiously 
termed  it,  because  Mr.  Douglas  had  said  at 
Ottawa,  in  his  usual  ornate  style,  that  he  was 
"going  to  trot  him  (Mr.  L.)  down  to  Egypt, 
and  bring  him  to  his  milk."  In  this  debate, 
Mr.  Lincoln  devoted  considerable  attention  to 
the  "  unfriendly  legislation "  dodge,  clearly 
demonstrating  that,  if  the  Constitution  con- 
fers the  right  of  taking  slaves  into  the  terri- 
tories, the  territorial  legislature  cannot  annul 
the  right,  and  that  Congress  is  bound  to 
give  the  slaveholder  ample  protection  in  the 
enjoyment  of  that  right,  should  the  territorial 
legislature  neglect  to  do  so.  Sub.'ieqaently,  in 
a  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave 
the  finishing  blow  to  "unfriendly  legislation," 
in  the  following  terse  and  admirable  defini- 
tion : — 

"  The  Dred  Scott  decision  expressly  gives  every  citizen 
of  the  United  States  a  right  to  cany  his  slaves  into  the 
United  States'  Territories.  And  now  there  was  some  in- 
consistency in  saying  that  the  decisjon  was  right,  and  say- 
ing, too,  that  the  people  of  the  Territory  could  lawfully 
drive  slavery  out  again.  When  all  the  trash,  the  words, 
the  collateral  matter,  was  cleared  away  from  it — all  the 
chaff  was  fanned  out  of  it,  it  was  a  bare  absurdity — tio  less 


29 


thdn  that  a  thing  may  be  lawfully  driven  atoay  from 
where  it  has  a  lawful  right  to  be. 

The  fourth  joint  discussion  took  place  at 
Charleston,  Coles  County,  on  the  18th  of  Sep- 
tember, three  daj'S  after  the  Jonesboro'  debate, 
Mr.  Lincoln  having  the  opening  and  closing. 
This  debate  was  remarkable  chiedy  for  the 
fact  that  Mr.  Lincoln  fastened  upon  his  antag- 
onist, by  incontrovertible  proof,  the  charge  of 
having  conspired  with  Senator  Toombs  and 
others  to  bring  Kansas  into  the  Union,  with- 
out having  her  Constitution  submitted  to  a 
vote  of  the  people, /or  the  purpose  of  makmg 
her  a  sUve  State.  Whoever  will  turn  to  that 
debate  and  examine  the  proofs  presented  by 
Mr.  Lincoln,  cannot  possibly  entertain  a  doubt 
as  to  the  existence  of  such  a  conspiracy,  and 
that  Douglas  was  a  party  to  it. 

"Negro  equaUty,"  the  peculiar  bugaboo  of 
Mr.  Douglas,  also  received  a  few  moments'  at- 
tention from  Mr.  Lincoln  at  Charleston,  in 
these  words : 

"  While  I  was  at  the  hole!  lo-Jay,  an  elderly  gentleman 
called  upon  me  to  know  whether  I  was  really  in  favor  of 
producing  a  perfect   equality   between  the  negroes   and 
white  people.     While  I  had  not  proposed  to  myself  on  this 
occasion  to  say  much  on  that  subject,  yet  as  the  question 
was  asked  me  I  thought  I  would  occupy  perhaps  five  min- 
utes in  saying  something  in  regard  to  it.    I  will  say,  then, 
that  I  am  not,  nor  ever  have  been,  in  favor  of  bringing 
about  in  any  way  the  social  and  political  equality  of  the 
white  and  black  races— that  I  am  not  nor  ever  have  been 
m  favor  of  making  voters  or  jurors  of  negroes,  nor  of 
qualilying  them  to  hold  office,  nor  to   intermarry   with 
white  people  ;  and  I  will  say,  in  addition  to  this,  that  there 
ts  a  physical  difference  between  the  white  and  black  races 
which  I  believe  will  forever  forbid  the  two  races  livino- 
together  on  terms  of  social  and  political  equality.     And" 
inasmuch  as  they  cannot  so  live,  while  they  do  remain 
together  there  must  be  the  position  of  superior  and  in- 
ferior, and  I  as  much  as  any  other  man  am  in  favor  of 
having  the  superior  (wsition  assigned   to  the  while  race 
I  say  upon  this  occasion,  I  do  not  perceive  that,   because 
the  white  man  is  to  have  the  superior  position,  the  nen-ro 
should  be  denied  everything.    I  do  not  understand  that 
because  I  do  not  want  a  negrr)  woman  for  a  slave  I  must 
necessarily  want  her  for  a  wife.     IW  understanding  is, 
that  I  can  just  let  her  alone.     I  am  now  in  my  fiftieth 
year,  and  I  certainly  never  have  had  a  black  woman  for 
either  a  slave  or  a  wife.    So  it  seems  to  me  quite  possible 
for  us  to  get  along  without  malcing  either  slaves  or  wives 
of  negroes.     I  will  add  to  this,  that  I  have  never  seen,  to 
my  knowledge,  a  man,  woman,  or  child,  who  was  in  favor 
of  producing  a  perfect  equality,  social  and  political,  be- 
tween  negroes  and  white  men.     I  recollect  of   but  one 
distinguished  instance  that  I  ever  lieird  of  so  frequently 
as  to  be  entirely  satisfied  of  iia  correctness— and  that  is 
the  case  of  Judge  Douglas's  old  friend.  Col.  Richard  M. 
Johnson.     I  will  also  add  lo  the  remarks  I  have  made 
(for  I  am  not  going  lo  enter  at  large  upon  this  subject,)' 
that  I  have  never  had  the  least  apprehension  that  I  or  my 
friends  would  marry  negroes  if  there  was  no  law  to  keep 
them  from  it ;  but  as  Judge  Douglas  and  his  friends  seem 
to  be  m  great  apprehension  that  they  might,  if  there  were 
no  law  to  keep  them  from  it,  I  give  him  the  most  solemn 
pledge  that  I  will  to  the  very  last  stand  by  the  law  of  this 
hlate,  which  forbids  the  marrying  of  white  people  with 
negroes.     I  will  add  one  further  word,  which  is  this  •  that 
I  do  not  understand  that  there  is  any  place  where  an  al- 
teration of  the  social  and  political  relations  of  the  negro 
and  the  white  man  can  be  made  except  in  the  State  Le"-- 
is4ature— not  m  the  Congress  of  the  United  .Slates— and  as 
I  do  not  really  apprehend  the  approach  of  any  such  thin" 
myself,  and  as  Judge  Douglas  seems  to  be  in  constant 
horror  that  some  such  danger  is  rapidly  approaching,  I 
propose   as  the  best  means  to  prevent  it,  that  the  Judge  be 
kept  at  home  and  placed  in  the  State  Legislature  lo  fi-^ht 
the  measure. "  =  o 


At  the  Galesburg  debate,  held  on  the  7th  of 

October,  Mr.  Lincoln  uttered  the  remarkable 

prediction  concerning  his  adversary  which  we 

nosv  see  realized,  in  answer  to  one  of  Mr. 

Douglas's  tirades  about ''  sectionalism :" 

"  I  ask  his  attention  also  to  the  fact  that,  by  the  rule  of 
nationality,  ho  is  himself  fast  becoming  sectional.  I  ask 
his  attention  to  the  fact  that  his  speeches  VFOuld  not  go  as 
current  now  south  of  the  Ohio  river  as  they  have  formerly 
gone  there.  1  ask  bis  a'tention  to  the  fact  that  he  felici- 
tates himself  to  day  that  all  the  Democrats  of  the  free 
States  are  agreeing  with  him,  while  he  omits  to  tell  us 
that  the  Democrats  of  any  slave  State  agree  with  him.  If 
he  has  not  thought  of  this,  I  commend  to  his  consideration 
the  evidence  in  his  own  declaration,  on  this  day,  of  liis 
becoming  sectional  too.  I  see  it  rapidly  approaching. 
Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  this  ephemeral  contest  be- 
tween Judge  Douglas  and  myself,  I  see  the  day  rapidly 
approaching  when  his  pill  of  sectionalism'  which  he  has 
been  thrusting  down  the  throats  of  Kepublicans  for  years 
past,  will  be  crowded  down  his  own  throat." 

The  sixth  (Quincy)  debate  took  place  on  the 
13th  of  October.  It  was  at  this  meeting  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  made  an  argument  to  prove  that 
the  Dred  Scott  premise  as  to  the  constitutional 
right  to  take  slaves  into  the  territories,  if  car- 
ried to  its  logical  results,  would  establish  the 
right  to  take  and  hold  them  in  the  free  States 
also.  Subsequently,  Mr.  Douglas,  in  his 
Harper  Magazine  article,  appropriated  this 
argument  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  his  own  use,  with- 
out giving  credit  therefor. 

The  reader  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  ex- 
amine the  volume  of  these  debates,  will  find 
that,  while  Mr.  Lincoin  made  a  new  argument 
at  each  meeting,  Mr.  Douglas's  portion  of  each 
debate  was  substantially  a  repetition  of  his 
first  effort  at  Ottawa. 

Two  days  later,  on  the  15th  of  October,  the 
final  encounter  between  the  champions  took 
place  at  Alton.  This  volume  would  be  incom- 
plete without  the  admirable  summing  up  of 
the  ISSUES  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  there  appropri- 
ately presented  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  Let  no  one 
fail  to  peruse  it. 


"  I  have  stated  upon  former  occasions,  and  I  may  as 
well  state  again,  what  I  understand  to  be  the  real  issue  in 
this  controversy  belween  Judge  Douglas  and  myself.    On 
the  point  of  my  wanting  to  make  war  between  the  free 
and  the  slave  States,  there  has  been  no  issue  between  ns. 
So,  too,  when  he  assumes  that  I  am  in  favor  of  introducing 
a  perfect  social  and  political  equality  between   the  w^hile 
and  black  races.     These  are  false  issues,  upon  which  Judge 
Douglas  has  tried  to  force  the  controversy.     There  is  no 
foundation  in  truth  for  the  charge  that  I  maintain  either  of 
these  propositions.     The  real  issue  in  this  controversy — 
the  one  pressing  upon  every  mind — is  the  sentiment  on  the 
part  of  one  class  that  looks  upon  the  institution  of  slavery 
as  a  wrong,  and  of  another  class  that  does  not  look  upon  it 
as  a  wrong.    The  sentiment  that  contemplates  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  in  this  country  as  a  wrong  is  the  sentiment 
of  the  Republican  party.    It  isthe  sentiment  around  which 
all  their  actions — all  their  arguments  circle — from  which 
all   iheir  propositions  radiate.     They  look  upon  it  as  being 
a  moral,  social,  and  political  wrong;  and  while  they  con- 
template it  as  such,  they  nevertheless  have  due  regard  for 
its  actual  existence  among  us,  and  the  difficulties  of  gel- 
ling rid  of  it  in  any  satisfactory  way,  and  to  all  the  con- 
stitutional obligations  thrown  about  it.     Yet,  having  a  due 
regard  for  these,  they  desire  a  policy  in  regard  to  it  that 
looks  to  its  not  creating  any  more  danger.     They  insist 
that  it  should,  so  far  as  may  be,  be  treated  as  a  wrong,  and 
one  of  the  methods  of  treating   it  as  a  wrong  is  lo  Tnake 
provision  that  it  shall  grow  no  larger.    They  also  desire  a 
policy  that  looks  to  a  peaceful  end  of  slavery  at  some  time, 


30 


a«  being  wrong.  These  are  the  views  they  entertain  in 
regard  toil,  as  1  understand  them;  and  all  their  senti- 
rraents — all  their  arguments  and  propositions — are  brought 
within  this  range.  I  have  said,  and  I  repeal  it  here,  that 
if  there  be  a  man  amongst  us  who  does  not  think  that  the 
instrtution  of  slavery  is  wrong  in  any  one  of  the  aspects 
of  which  I  have  spoken,  he  is  misplaced,  and  ought  not  to 
be  with  us.  And  if  there  be  a  man  amongst  us  who  is  so 
impatient  of  it  as  a  -wfon?  as  to  disregard  its  actual  pres- 
ence among  us  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  rid  of  it  sudden- 
ly in  a  satisfactory  way,  and  to  disregard  the  constitution- 
al obligations  thrown  about  it,  that  man  is  misplaced  if  he 
is  on  our  platform.  We  disclaim  sympathy  with  him  in 
practical  action.     He  is  not  placed  properly  with  us. 

On  this  subject  of  treating  it  as  a  wrong,  and  limiting 
its  spread,  let  ine  say  a  word.  Has  anything  ever  threat- 
ened the  existence  of  this  Union  save  and  except  this  very 
institution  of  slavery?  What  is  it  that  we  hold  most  dear 
amongst  us?  Our  own  liberty  and  prosperity.  What  has 
ever  threatened  our  liberty  and  prosperity  save  and  ex- 
cept this  institution  of  slavery?  If  this  is  true,  how  do  you 
propose  to  improve  the  condition  of  things  by  enlarging 
slavery — by  spreading  it  out  and  making  it  bigger?  You 
may  have  a  wen  or  cancer  upon  your  person  and  not  be 
able  to  cut  it  out  lest  you  bleed  to  death  ;  but  surely  it  is 
no  way  to  cure  it,  to  engraft  it  and  spread  it  over  your 
whole  body.  That  is  no  proper  way  of  treating  what  you 
regard  as  a  wrong.  You  see  this  peaceful  way  of  dealing; 
with  it  as  a  wrong — restricting  the  spread  of  it,  and  not 
allowing  it  to  go  mlo  new  countries  where  it  has  not  al- 
ready existed.  That  istlie  peaceful  way,  the  old-fashioned 
way,  the  way  in  which  the  fathers  themselves  set  us  the 
example. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  said  there  is  a  sentiment 
wliich  treats  it  as  not  being  wrong.  That  is  the  Democrat- 
ic sentiment  of  this  day.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  every 
man  who  stands  within  that  range  positively  asserts  that 
it  is  right.  That  class  will  include  all  who  positively  as- 
sert that  it  is  right,  and  all  who  like  Judge  Douglas  treat  it 
as  indifferent,  and  do  not  say  it  is  either  right  or  wrong. 
These  two  classes  of  men  fall  within  the  general  cla.ss  of 
those  who  do  not  look  upon  it  as  a  wrong.  And  if  tliere 
be  among  you  anybody  who  supposes  that  he,  as  a 
Democrat,  can  consider  himself"  as  much  opposed  to  slav- 
ery as  anybody,"  I  would  like  to  reason  witli  him.  You 
never  treat  it  as  a  wrong.  What  other  thing  that  you  con- 
sider as  a  wrong  do  you  deal  with  as  you  deal  with  that  ? 
Perhaps  you  say  it  is  wrong,  hrit  your  leader  never  does, 
and  you  guarrel  with  anybody  who  says  it  is  wrong. 
Although  you  pretend  to  say  so  yourself,  you  can  find  no 
fit  place  to  deal  with  it  as  a  wrong.  You  must  not  say 
anything  about  it  in  the  free  States,  because  it  is  not  here. 
You  must  not  say  anything  about  it  in  the  slave  Stales, 
because  it  is  there.  You  must  not  say  anything  about 
it  in  the  pulpit,  because  that  is  religion  and  has  nothing  to 
do  with  it.  You  must  not  say  anyliiing  about  it  in  politics, 
because  that  will  disturb  the  security  of '■^ my  place.'''' 
There  is  no  place  to  talk  ahout  it  as  being  a  wrong, 
although  you  say  yourst-lf  it  is  a  wrong.  But  final- 
ly, you  will  screw  yourself  up  to  the  belief  that  if 
the  people  of  the  slave  t^lales  should  adopt  a  system  of 
eradnal  emancipation  on  the  slavery  question,  you  would 
be  in  favor  of  it.  You  say  that  is  getting  it  in  the  right 
place,  and  you  would  be  glad  to  see  it  succeed.  But  you 
are  deceiving  yourself.  You  all  know  that  Frank  Blair 
and  Gratz  l;rown  undertook  to  introduce  that  system  in 
Missouri.  They  fought  as  valiantly  as  they  could  for  the 
system  of  gradual  emancipation  which  you  pretend  yon 
would  be  glad  to  see  succeed.  Now  I  will  bring  you  to 
the  test.  After  a  hard  fight,  they  were  beaten,  and  when 
the  news  came  over  liere  you  threw  up  your  hats  and 
hurrahed  for  Deinocractj.  JJore  than  that,  take  all  the 
argument  made  in  fiivor  of  the  system  you  have  proposed, 
and  it  carefully  e.xcliules  the  idea  that  there  is  anything 
wrong  in  the  institution  of  slavery.  The  arguments  to 
sustain  that  policy  carefully  exclude  it.  Even  here  to- 
day, you  heard  Judge  Douglas  quarrel  with  ine  because  I 
nttered  a  wish  that  it  might  sometime  come  to  an  end. 
Although  Henry  <  l.iy  could  say  he  wished  every  slave 
in  the  Uni  ed  States  was  in  the  country  of  liis  an- 
cestors, I  am  denounced  by  those  pretending  to  re- 
spect Henry  Clay  fir  uttering  a  wish  that  it  might 
sometime,  in  some  peaceful  way,  come  to  an  end.  The 
Democratic  policy  in  regard  to  that  institution  will 
not  tolerate  the  merest  bre.ith,  tlie  sliglitest  liint,  of  the 
Jeaat  degree  of  wrong  about  it.  Try  it  by  some  of  Judge 
Douglas  s  argumentsr    He  says  be  "  don't  care  whether  it 


is  voted  up  or  voted  down  "  in  the  Territories.  I  do  not 
care  myself,  in  dealing  with  that  expression,  whether  it  is 
intended  to  be  expressive  of  his  individual  sentiments  on 
the  subject,  or  only  of  the  national  policy  he  desires  to 
have  established.  It  is  alike  valuable  for  my  purpose. 
Any  man  can  say  that  who  does  not  see  anything  wrong 
in  slavery,  but  no  man  can  logically  say  it  who  does  Bee  a 
wrong  in  it ;  because  no  man  can  logically  say  he  don't 
care  whether  a  wrong  is  voted  up  or  voted  down.  lie 
may  say  he  don't  care  whether  an  indifferent  thing  is 
voted  up  or  down,  but  he  must  logically  have  a  choice  be- 
tween a  right  thing  and  a  wrong  thing.  He  contends  that 
whatever  community  wants  slaves  has  a  right  to  have 
them.  So  they  have  if  it  is  not  a  wrong.  But  if  it  is  a 
wrong,  he  cannot  say  people  have  a  right  to  do  wrong. 
He  says  that,  upon  the  score  of  equality,  slaves  should  be 
allowed  to  go  into  a  new  Territory,  like  other  property. 
This  is  strictly  logical  if  there  is  no  difference  between  it 
and  other  property.  If  it  and  other  property  are  equal, 
his  argument  is  entirely  logical.  But  if  you  insist  that 
one  is  wrong  and  the  other  right,  there  is  no  use  to  institute 
a  comparison  between  right  and  wrong.  Yon  may  turn 
over  every  thing  in  the  Democratic  polTcy  froui  beginning 
to  end,  whether  in  the  shape  it  takes  on  the  statute-book, 
in  the  shape  it  takes  in  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in  the 
shape  it  takes  in  conversation,  or  the  shape  it  takes  in 
short,  maxim-like  arguments — it  every  where  carefully  ex- 
cludes the  idea  that  there  is  anything  wrong  in  it. 

That  is  the  real  issue.  That  is  the  issue  th.at  will 
continue  in  this  country  when  these  poor  tongues  of  Judge 
Douglas  ami  myself  shall  be  §ilent.  It  is  the  eternal 
struggle  between  these  two  principles — right  and  wrong 
— throughout  the  world.  They  are  the  two  principles 
that  have  stood  face  to  face  from  the  beginning  of  time ; 
and  will  ever  continue  to  struggle.  The  one  is  the  com- 
mon right  of  liumanity,  and  the  other  the  divine  right  of 
kings.  It  is  the  same  principle  in  whatever  shape  it  de- 
velops itself.  It  is  the  same  spirit  that  says,  "  You  work 
and  toil  and  earn  bread,  and  I'll  eat  it"  No  matter  in 
what  shape  it  comes,  whether  from  the  mouth  of  a  king 
who  seeks  to  bestride  the  people  of  his  own  nation  and 
live  by  the  fruit  of  their  labor,  or  from  one  race  of  men 
as  an  apology  for  enslaving  another  race,  it  is  the  same 
tyrannical  principle.  I  was  glad  to  express  my  gratitude 
at  Quincy,  and  I  re-express  it  here  to  Judge  Douglas — 
that  he  looks  to  no  end  of  the  institution  of  shivery. 
That  will  help  the  people  to  see  where  the  struggle  really 
is.  It  will  hereafter  place  with  us  all  men  who  really  do 
wish  tlie  wrong  may  have  an  end.  And  whenever  we  can 
get  rid  of  the  fog  which  obscures  the  real  question — when 
we  can  get  Judge  Douglas  and  his  friends  to  avow  a  policy 
looking  to  its  perpetuation — we  can  gel  out  from  among 
them  that  class  of  men  and  bring  them  to  the  side  of  those 
who  treat  it  as  a  wrong.  Then  there  will  soon  be  an  end  of 
it,  and  that  will  be  its  "ultimate  extinction."  Whenever  the 
issue  can  be  distinctly  made,  and  all  extraneous  matter 
thrown  out,  so  t'nat  men  can  fairly  see  the  real  difference 
between  the  parties,  this  controversy  will  soon  be  settled, 
and  it  will  be  done  peaceably,  too.  There  will  be  no  war, 
no  violence.  It  will  be  placed  again  where  the  wisest 
and  best  men  of  the  world  placed  it.  Brooks  of  South 
Carolina  once  declared  that,  when  this  Constitution  was 
framed,  its  fivimers  did  not  look  to  the  institution  existing 
until  this  day.  When  he  said  this,  I  think  he  stated  a  fact 
that  is  fully  borne  out  by  the  history  of  the  times.  But 
he  also  said  they  were  better  and  wiser  men  than  the  men 
of  these  days;  yet  the  men  of  these  days  had  experience 
which  they  had  not,  and  by  the  invention  of  the  cotton- 
gin  it  became  a  necessity  in  this  country  that  slavery 
should  be  perpetual.  I  now  say  that,  willingly  or  unwil- 
lingly, purposely  or  without  purpose,  Judge  Douglas  has 
been  the  most  prominent  instrument  in  changing  the  posi- 
tion of  the  in.stitution  of  slavery  which  the  lathers  of  the 
Government  expected  to  come  to  an  end  ere  this — and 
putting  it  upon  Brooks''s  cottnn-gin,  basis — placing  it 
where  he  openly  confesses  he  has  no  desire  there  shall 
ever  be  an  end  of  it. 

The  canvass  was  now  finished — a  canvass  in 
some  respects  the  most  remarkable  ever  wit- 
nessed in  this  country — and  nought  remained 
but  for  the  people  to  record  their  verdict.  Each 
of  the  speakers  addressed  public  meetings  up 
to  the  day  of  election.  Mr.  Lincoln  made 
about  sixty  .speeches  during  the  canvass,  tra- 


versing  almost  the  entire  State,  by  nearly 
every  conceivable  mode  of  travel.  He  spoke 
usually  from  two  to  three  hours,  nearly  always 
in  the  open  air,  and  to  audiences  so  large  as 
to  require  great  effort  on  his  part  to  be  heard 
distinctly  by  all.  During  these  arduous  labors, 
he  never  once  faltered,  never  exhibited  signs 
of  weariness,  never  failed  to  meet  an  appoint- 
ment. He  seemed  to  grow  fresher  and  stronger 
as  the  campaign  progressed.  Esercise  in  the 
open  air,  travel,  and  the  excitement  incident 
to  the  canvass,  were,  in  some  respects,  a  return 
to  the  habits  of  his  early  life,  and  the  effect 
was  plainly  visible  upon  his  physical  man. 
His  voice  grew  clearer  and  stronger  to  the 
very  last  day  ;  and  at  the  close  he  was  heavier 
by  nearly  twenty  pounds  than  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  canvass.  He  exhibited  powers  of 
endurance  that  have  rarely  been  equaled.  The 
gallant  manner  in  which  he  bore  himself  at  his 
meetings  with  Douglas,  and  the  transcendent 
ability  which  he  displayed  on  all  occasions, 
more  than  satisfied  his  friends.  His  progress 
through  the  State  had  all  the  characteristics 
of  a  triumphal  march.  He  was  met  by  large 
deputations  from  every  town  which  he  ent-er- 
ed,  tendering  hir\,  in  behalf  of  its  citizens,  a 
cordii';  welcome  totheirhospitalitiesandawarm 
place  in  their  aflfections.  The  subsequent  pub- 
lication of  his  debates  with  Douglas,  precisely 
as  they  were  reported  by  their  respective 
friends,  without  a  word  of  comment  or  expla- 
nation, and  its  general  circulation  as  a  Repub- 
lican campaign  document,  is  the  highest  testi- 
monial that  could  be  offered  to  the  genius,  to 
the  ability,  to  the  broad  and  comprehensive 
views,  and  to  the  statesmanlike  character  of 
Mr.  Lincoln. 

The  election  took  place  on  the  2d  of  Novem- 
ber. The  excitement  which  had  wrought  the 
State  up  to  a  tempest  during  the  progress  of 
the  fight,  culminated  on  this  eventful  day. 
The  whole  number  of  votes  cast  for  President 
in  Illinois,  in  1856,  was  238,981 ;  the  whole 
number  cast  for  members  of  the  Legislature 
in  1858,  was  251,1-iS.  A  drenching  and  chill- 
ing rain  poured  down  all  day  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  State,  extending  southward,  with 
more  or  less  discomfort  to  voters,  so  far  as 
Vandalia.  It  did  not,  however,  reach  "  Lower 
Egypt"  The  result  of  the  election  is  matter 
of  history.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  majority  over 
Mr.  Douglas,  in  the  popular  vote,  of  4,085 ; 
while,  by  an  unfair  apportionment  law,  the 
latter  had  a  small  majority  of  the  Legislature, 
and  was  therefore  re-elected  to  the  Senate.  A 
careful  analysis  of  the  official  returns  reveals 
the  following  facts.: 

1st.  That  according  to  the  census  of  1855, 
the  33  districts  carried  by  the  Democrats,  and 
electing  40  members,  contained  606,278  pop- 
ulation, and  the  25  districts  carried  by  the 
Republicans  and  electing  35  members,   con- 


tained 699,340  population,  or  93,562  more 
than  the  districts  carried  by  the  Democrats. 

2d.  That  in  a  Democratic  district  the  ratio 
of  representation  was  15,156  inhabitants  to  a 
member,  while  in  Republican  districts,  tt  re- 
quired 19,910  inhabitants  to  a  member. 

3d.  That  the  true  ratio  being  17,421  inhab- 
itants to  a  member,  had  the  Legislature  been 
elected  on  that  basis,  the  Republican  districts 
would  have  been  entitled  to  fortt  members 
of  the  House  and  fourleen,  Senators,  and  the 
Democrats  to  fA^r^y-yii-e  members  of  the  House 
and  eleven  Senators — exactly  reversing  the 
number  each,  side  secured.  Of  course,  this 
would  have  elected  Lincoln  by  the  ?ime  ma- 
jority on  joint  ballot  that  Douglas  received. 
Had  every  citizen  possessed  an  equal  weight 
and  voice  in  the  choice  of  Senator,  Mr.  Doug- 
las would  now  be  a  private  citizen  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  a  member  of  the  L'.  S.  Senate.  Mr. 
Douglas  is  a  Senator  from  Illinois  through  a 
palpable  violation  of  the  principles  of  popular 
sovereis-ntv. 


CONCLUSION. 

The  man  whose  history  ~we  have  thus 
briefly  traced  now  stands  before  the  country 
the  chosen  candidate  of  the  Republican  party 
for  President  of  the  United  States.  Com- 
mencing life  under  circumstances  the  most 
discouraging,  we  have  seen  him  courageously 
and  manfully  battling  his  way  upward  from 
one  position  of  honor  and  responsibility  to  an- 
other, until  he  now  stands  in  an  attitude  to 
place  his  foot  upon  the  very  topmost  round  of 
honorable  fame.  He  presents  in  his  own  per- 
son the  best  living  illustration  of  the  true  dig- 
nity of  labor,  and  of  the  genius  of  our  fi"ee 
American  institutions,  having  been  elevated 
through  their  instrumentality  from  poverty 
and  obscurity  to  his  present  distinguished 
position. 

Perhaps  no  more  appropriate  conclusion  can 
bo  given  to  this  sketch  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life, 
than  the  following,  relative  to  his  personal  ap- 
pearance, habits,  tastes,  &c.,  which  is  copied 
from  the  Chicago  Press  and  Tribune,  and  for 
the  correctness  of  which,  in  every  particular, 
we  can  fully  vouch  : 

'•Mr.  Lincoln  stands  sis  feet  four  inches  hi^Ii  in  his 
stockings.  Kia  frame  is  not  tnascular,  but  a;aunt  and  wiry. 
In  walking,  his  ?3it,  though  lirm,  is  never  brisk.  Ho  steps 
slowly  and  deliberately,  almost  always  with  his  head  in- 
clined forward,  and  his  hands  clasped  behind  his  back, 
la  maaaer,  he  is  remartably  cordial,  and  at  the  same  time 
sinaple.  His  politeness  is  always  sincere,  but  never  elab- 
orate and  opp  essive.  A  warm  shake  of  the  hand  and  a 
warmer  smile  of  recognition  are  his  methods  of  greeting 
his  friends.  At  rest,  hts  features,  though  they  are  those 
of  a  man  of  mark,  are  not  such  as  belong  to  a  handsomo 
man :  but  when  his  ane,  dark-gray  eyes  are  lighted  up  by 
any  emotion,  and  his  features  begin  their  play,  he  would 
be  chosen  from  amon^  a  crowd  as  one  wbo  had  in  him  not 
only  the  kindly  sentimentj  which  women  love,  but  the 
heavier  metal  of  which  full-grown  men  and  Presidents 
aro  made.  His  hair  is  black,  and  though  thin,  is  wiry. 
His  he-id  sits  well  on  his  shoulders,  but  bavond  thatitdo- 
fies  description.     It  nearer  resembles  that  of  Clay  than 


32 


■Webster's,  but  Is  unlike  olthor.     It  is  very  larsc  and  , 
I)hrciiulu;;icuny  will  iiroiiurliuued,  bclokcijiujj  jiowor  iu 
nil  Us  dcvulupuieiits.     A  bli^htly  JUunan  uoic,  a  uijo-cut 
inoutlL,  and  a  dark   coinpkiion,  wilh  tbo  appoaruuco  ol| 
liiiviiij^  Uecu  wcjilior-beali^D,  cumiiiute  Lhu  <lcj><;riiitiuli.       i 
In  hia  personal  liabita,  Mr.  Liiicolii  id  us  biuiplc  us   a  ! 
cliild.     lie  loves  a  good  diiiuer,  and  eal9  with  the  aj'P' -  j 
tile  which  Koes  with  ii  great  brain  ;  but  liis  food  is  plain  | 
unit  nuiriliuus.     He  never  driiika  Inloxicatiug  liiiuuiu  of 
any  sort.     He  is  not  addicted   to   tobacco  in  any   of  Us 
ahupcs.     IIu  \va6  never  accused  of  a  liceiilious  uct  la  liis 
life.     He  never  UffS  profane  language.     IJc  never  gaiu- 
bles.     lie  is  iKirticularly  cautious  about  Inciirrijig  pecuni- 
ary obligalions  for  any  pui'pose  whatever;  and,  iu  debt, 
he  b  never  content  until  tlio  score  U  discharged.    'We 
presume  he  owes  no  man  a  dollar.     lie  never  speculates. 
The  raKB  for  Itn^  sudden  acciuiblllon  of  wealth  never  took 
hold  of  him.     ills   galnji  from  hla  profession  have  been 
luoderato,  but  DUlllciecl  for  his  purj;oses.     While  others 
have  drcameil  of  gold,  he  lias  been  in  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge.    In  uU  his  dealliiK^,  he  hui  thu  reiiulallon  of  being 
generous  but  e-iLact,  and,  above   alt,  religiously  honest, 
lie  would  be  a  bold  man  who  wouldsay  that  iibraham  Lin- 
coln ever  wronged  a  man  out  of  a  cent,  or   ever  spent  a 
dolla  that  he  hud  not  honestly  earned.     Ills  struggles  In 
early  lU'e  have  made  hiiu  careful  of  money,  but  his  gen- 
ero.^ity  wilh  his  own  is  proverbial,     lie  Is  u  regular    ul- 
leuddaul  upon  religinus  worship,  and,  though  not  a  com- 
niuncant,  is  a  pew-holder  and  liberal  supporter  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Cburcb  i^  ijpringlleld,  tu  which  Mrs.  LiucuUi  be- 


belongs.    Tie  is  a  scrupulous  teller  of  the  tru'h— loo  exact 

iu  his  neiliuns  tu  ciii  the  utuiusphere  of  \S  ashingtun,  us  it 
now  is-  His  eneiiiU'S  <;  ..y  say  tliut  Le  telJs  i>iack  liepubli- 
cau  lies;  bui  no  man  i.v._r  ihar^-ed  that,  in  a  jjrofesiit  nal 
capacity,  or  us  a  ciluen  deuiing  wilh  his  neit/hburt,  iie 
would  depart  from  the  ^crii>turul  command.  At  houje, 
he  lives  like  a  gentleman  of  mode  !  nie.inh  aud  simple 
tastes.  Agood-slzed  house  of  wood,  »ini|jjy  h^:  tastefully 
furnished,  surrounded  by  trees  and  lluwers,  is  his  own: 
there  he  lives,  at  peace  wilh  himself,  the  i  Jol  of  hla  fan.ily, 
uud  for  his  honesty,  ability  and  i;atriotJ:iin,  lie  udmlraliou 
of  lib  counti'ymeu. 

If  Mr.  Lincoln  Is  elected  President,  he  will  carry 
but  liltle  that  Is  ornameutal  to  thu  White  lIoa.-,e.  The 
country  must  acceiit  his  sincerity,  his  ub;Lty,  and  his  )ioi.- 
csty,  iu  the  mould  In  wbicli  they  ure  cast.  He  wUi  nut  bu 
able  to  make  so  polite  a  bow  us  li'runklin  I'lerce,  hut  lie 
will  not  commeuco  anew  the  agltaliou  of  the  bluvejy 
question  by  recommending  tu  OuugreBti  any  Kansas-Ne- 
braska ilillii.  He  may  not  preside  at  the  I'resulenlial  din- 
ners with  the  ease  and  grace  which  dislinguiib  the  "  Ven- 
erable public  functionary,"  Mr.  Uachauan ;  but  he  will 
not  create  the  necessity  for  a  Covnde  Committee  and  thel 
disgraceful  revelations  of  Cornelius  'Wendell.  He  \kil 
take  to  the  Presidential  (Jh.iir  just  tlie  qualities  which  the 
country  now  dciuanda  to  save  It  from  Impending  destruc- 
tion— ability  that  uo  wan  can  question,  liimness  that 
nothing  can  oveibear,  honesty  that  never  has  been  im- 
peached, and  patriotism  Ihat  never  despairs." 


1§  AND  TMHUl^^E, 


CAMPAIGN    OF    1860. 

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One  copy,  one  year : tl  fiO  I'lve  coplei,  one  year JG  00 

Three  copies,  oue  year -1  00  Ten  copies,  one  year IU  00 

Pour  copies,  oue  year 5  00  Twenty  copies,  oue  year l;u  OU 

Any  person  sending  ua  a  Club  of  Twenty,  or  more,  will  be  entitled  lo  afi  extra  copy.  Money,  in  all  cases,  required 
iu  •dvunce.     Subscriptiau  may  commeiice  at  any  tunc, 

THE    CAMPAIGN    PRESS    AND    TRIBUNE. 

The  Campaign  Prtat  and  Tribunt  will  give  a  full  and  complete  current  history  of  the  Presidential  Canvass,  in- 
cluding reports  of  speeches,  debuteu,  and  mass  meetings.  It  will  also  contain  the  general  news  of  the  day,  telegraphic 
diipalches,  copious  correspondence,  market  reports,  agricultural  and  other  useful  matter.  Nothing  will  be  omitted  to 
render  it  a  welcome  sheet  and  an  efficient  champion  of  the  Itepublican  cause.  In  order  to  give  it  a  broad-cast  circu- 
lation, it  will  be  Bent  to  clubs,  from  July  Ist  untij  Ihe  close  of  the  campaign,  at  the  following  greatly  reduced  rales  : 

i'or  the  Campaiga  Wedily. — llfteen  copies,  one  address,  $5  01) ;  Fifty  copies,  oue  address,  f  16  00 ;  atngle 
copy,  40  cents. 

For  the  Campaign  Tri-Weekly, — Ten  copies,  one  address,  %\\  OO;  Twenty  copies,  one  address,  $20  00 

^Vf  Kurnish  the  Post-master  with  a  list  of  the  names,  and,  by  a  recent  law  of  Congress,  he  is  obliged  to  deliver 
the  papers  from  a  bundle  sent  to  one  address. 

iJff'  Money  in  Uegidtcrod  letters  sent  al  our  i:\a\L.        Address 


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